Good progress made on Chagos Islands issue: UK

Britain and Mauritius said on Monday that they were making “good progress” in negotiations to reach a treaty over the future of the Chagos Islands, including the US-British military base in Diego Garcia.

Britain struck a deal in October to hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while retaining control of the strategically important Diego Garcia military base, but a formal treaty is yet to be finalised.

Since then, both an ally of US President-elect Donald Trump and new Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam have publicly criticised the deal.

Last month Ramgoolam said his government wanted to renegotiate it, but Britain has maintained that the deal works for all sides. A UK-Mauritius joint statement provided by the British government on Monday reiterated “good progress” had been made and discussions were ongoing to reach an agreement that is in both sides’ interests.

“Both countries reiterated their commitment to concluding a treaty providing that Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago; and that would ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the base on Diego Garcia,” the statement said.