Britain to give Chagos Island to Mauritius, retain US-UK military base

Operation of Diego Garcia, a strategic military base jointly operated by the UK and US, is protected by the agreement

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Fuel tanks at the edge of a military airstrip on Diego Garcia, largest island in the Chagos archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:58pm, 3 Oct 2024Updated: 8:20pm, 3 Oct 2024

Britain said on Thursday it would give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal that would allow people displaced decades ago to return home while London retains use of the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

Britain said that the operation of Diego Garcia, a strategic military base jointly operated with the United States, was protected by the agreement, which also allows Mauritius to resettle the rest of the islands after its population was displaced.

US President Joe Biden welcomed the deal, saying it would secure the effective operation of the airbase into the next century.

“Diego Garcia is the site of a joint US-UK military facility that plays a vital role in national, regional, and global security,” he said in a statement.

“This government inherited a situation where the long-term, secure operation of the Diego Garcia military base was under threat, with contested sovereignty and ongoing legal challenges,” British Foreign Minister David Lammy said in a statement.

A US Air Force B-1B bomber takes off from the Diego Garcia military base in 2001. Photo: AFP

“Today’s agreement secures this vital military base for the future,” he continued.