Let’s Make a Deal

A contentious deal for the United Kingdom to cede control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is being challenged by the African island country’s new prime minister, who is now offering his own “counterproposals,” Al Jazeera reported.

The British government has said it still plans to give control of the chain of the contested Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius under the condition that the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, and its strategic joint UK-US military base, remain under British rule for at least 99 years.

The initial agreement to transfer sovereignty of the chain of more than 60 islands off the southern tip of India, just below the equator, was announced in October, according to the Associated Press.

When the announcement was made, the UK’s governing Labour Party said it was finalizing the treaty’s details with the Mauritian government. Since then, the government in Mauritius was voted out by voters, and replaced by one led by Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam who took office last month.

On Tuesday, Ramgoolam said he was reopening negotiations because the current deal “would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect from such an agreement,” wrote Al Jazeera.

Ramgoolam added that his government “is still willing to come to an agreement with the United Kingdom” and had submitted counterproposals.

Stephen Doughty, the UK’s minister for overseas territories told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Wednesday that the deal would be finalized as it was fair and in both countries’ best interests.

Doughty also said that the deal “protects the base at proportionate cost. It has been supported across the national security architecture in the United States and by India.”

The UK’s Conservative Party has criticized Labour for surrendering control of the territory that has been under their jurisdiction since 1814 – despite the negotiations over the Islands that led to this point having been mostly conducted under the previous Conservative government.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the UK forcibly evicted nearly 2,000 local residents to make way for the military base, which in the years since has played a pivotal role in US military operations in Vietnam, Iran, and Afghanistan, and was used for covert rendition flights of terror suspects.

The displaced people have fought in British courts for years for the right to return to their homes. The new agreement would allow them and their descendants to return to the islands, but not to Diego Garcia.

US President Joe Biden has praised the agreement as “historic,” emphasizing the importance of the US Navy base. The base on Diego Garcia is currently home to around 2,500 American military personnel and has continued to be a strategic point for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia, and East Africa.