UK to revisit Chagos deal after criticism from President Trump — Channel NewsAsia

The United Kingdom will rework the agreement to return the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius following criticism from US President Donald Trump. This was stated by UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting after Trump met with the country’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham in New York, Channel NewsAsia reports.

The plan envisaged transferring the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius and the UK leasing the strategic joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia island. In April, London confirmed that it had suspended the implementation of the arrangements reached last year by the Mauritian government and then-UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Washington’s position

Trump initially supported the agreement, but later called it an act of great stupidity. During his first face-to-face meeting with Burnham on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, he again criticized the arrangements, calling them a terrible deal. Trump said he believed that the British prime minister would revisit the agreement. Burnham nodded and answered affirmatively.

After the meeting, Burnham said that the United Kingdom would work hard to resolve the issue and was confident that a solution could be found in cooperation with its US partners.

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Payments for leasing the base

Streeting told the BBC that Trump’s position had not come as a surprise to London, but his latest comments showed that the US president’s attitude toward the agreement in its current form remained unchanged. According to the minister, the British side needs to continue working with the Trump administration to agree on an acceptable option.

The minister also confirmed that annual payments of at least £120 million, or $159 million, for leasing the base from Mauritius would not be made at this stage. The agreement provided for a 99-year lease term with an option to extend it.

The United Kingdom retained control over Chagos after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s. Thousands of the archipelago’s residents were displaced and later filed compensation claims in British courts. In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that the United Kingdom transfer the archipelago to Mauritius.