UK presses Mauritius on deal to protect Chagos Islands base

The UK has asked for “strong protections” for a joint UK-US military base on the Chagos Islands. Britain agreed last year to hand over the archipelago over to Mauritius after a decades-long dispute.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Mauritian counterpart Navin Ramgoolam spoke directly for the first time about the Chagos Archipelago deal on Friday.

Britain and its former colony reached a deal in October 2024 to hand the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

The deal would end Britain’s direct control of the islands but give it a lease of 99 years on a joint UK-US military base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.

In the Friday call, Starmer “underlined the need for a deal to secure the military base on Diego Garcia that ensures strong protections, including from malign influence,” according to a Downing Street statement.

“Both leaders reiterated their commitment to a deal, and they looked forward to speaking again soon,” the statement said.

Ramgoolam, who was elected in November, has questioned the deal agreed by his predecessor. He has said it didn’t benefit his country enough without going into detail on individual sticking points.