The United Kingdom has announced that it will give up its sovereignty over a remote but strategically important archipelago in the Indian Ocean after more than half a century. Under the agreement reached after several years of negotiations, the Chagos Islands will be handed over to Mauritius.
This includes the tropical atoll Diego Garcia, which the US government has used as a military base for naval ships and long-range bombers.
This announcement, which came in a joint statement by the Prime Ministers of Britain and Mauritius on Thursday, puts an end to the decades-long, and often confusing, negotiations between the two countries over the islands.
The US-British base will remain in Diego Garcia – a key factor in allowing the deal to proceed in the region at a time of increasing geopolitical rivalry between Western countries, India and China.
The agreement is still subject to the completion of the contract, but both parties promised to complete it as soon as possible.
After two years of negotiations, this is a historic moment in our relationship and evidence of our enduring commitment to the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the rule of law.
– British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reads Pravind Jugnauth In a statement by the Prime Minister of Mauritius.
The leaders also said they were committed to the “long-term safe and effective operation of the Diego Garcia base, which plays a vital role in regional and global security.”
According to the parties, the contract “It addresses past injustices and demonstrates the commitment of both parties to the well-being of Chagossians“.
The two countries are working on establishing a new partnership, with the UK offering a financial support package to Mauritius focusing on infrastructure, among other things.
Shadows of coconut palms on the white sand of the beach, Diego Garcia.
Mauritius will now be able to launch a resettlement program in the Chagos Islands – with the exception of the military base on Diego Garcia Island.
The United Kingdom will guarantee the operation of the military base for an “initial period,” meaning 99 years. The United States also supported the resolution, and President Joe Biden praised the “historic” agreement in a statement.
“It is clear evidence that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges to achieve peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes,” President Biden said.
In recent years, the UK has faced increasing diplomatic isolation over its claim to the islands, which it refers to as the British Indian Ocean Territory, and various UN bodies, including the Supreme Court and General Assembly, have sided overwhelmingly with Mauritius. Demands the UK to give up everything, and some call it “Africa’s last colony.” He was summoned
The Mauritian government has long said it was illegally forced to hand over the Chagos Islands in exchange for independence from the United Kingdom in 1968.
At the time, the British government was already negotiating a secret agreement with the United States to use the largest atoll, Diego Garcia, as a military base.
Britain later apologized for the forced displacement of more than 1,000 islanders from across the archipelago and promised to hand over the islands to Mauritius when they were no longer needed for strategic purposes.
But until recently, the UK insisted that Mauritius itself had no legitimate claim to the islands.
International public opinion on this issue has changed only recently. African countries have acted unitedly on this issue. Then, because of Brexit, many European countries were reluctant to continue supporting the UK's position in international forums.
The Mauritian government launched the attack, accusing the British government of making verbal threats. In addition, they began an increasingly sophisticated campaign – at the UN, in the courts and in the media – in which they lowered and planted the flag on the archipelago without British permission.
The negotiations that led to Thursday's agreement began years before Keir Starmer took office as British Prime Minister. A major breakthrough on this issue is the increasingly urgent settlement of international affairs, particularly Ukraine, where the UK seeks to remove the Chagos issue as an obstacle to winning the support of African countries on other important issues. He confirmed BBC, also pointing out this
Half a century after the United Kingdom relinquished control of almost the entirety of its vast global empire, it has finally agreed to hand over one of the last pieces. He did so perhaps reluctantly, but also peacefully and legally.
The remaining British Overseas Territories are: Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Antarctic Territory, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the Turks. . And the Caicos Islands.
