Incoming US President Donald Trump should consider Britain’s plan to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius before going ahead, Downing Street has said.
The BBC understands efforts were made to sign the deal before President-elect Trump was sworn in on Monday, and the Mauritian cabinet was expected to approve the proposal on Wednesday.
Britain plans to cede sovereignty to the cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean, but to retain a 99-year lease on the joint UK and US military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was perfectly appropriate for the US administration to consider the details of any deal.
The deal has been criticized by UK politicians as well as incoming US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said it posed a “serious threat” to US security.
It was reported that Mauritian Prime Minister Naveen Ramgolam would sign the deal on Wednesday as he attended a cabinet meeting, but it was later announced that his attorney general would travel to London to continue the talks. are doing
Britain took control of the Chagos Islands, or British Indian Ocean Territory, from its then-colony, Mauritius, in 1965 and evicted more than 1,000 of its population to make way for the Diego Garcia base.
Mauritius, which gained independence from Britain in 1968, maintains that the islands are its own, and the United Nations’ highest court ruled in an advisory opinion that Britain’s administration of the territory was “illegal.” “is
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Kiir defended his plan, insisting it was the best way to protect the military base.
However, Conservative leader Cammy Badenoch said the Prime Minister was “negotiating a secret deal to hand over British territory and the taxpayers of this country will pay for the humiliation”.
Badenoch said there was “no way we would give up British territory in the Chagos” and claimed Sir Kerr was “rushing into a deal that would be disastrous.”