Britain to hand over sovereignty of remote Chagos Islands to Mauritius

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The UK has reached an agreement with Mauritius to give sovereignty of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to the East African nation and secure a strategically important UK-US military base, the Foreign Office announced Thursday.

After years of negotiations, the UK agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a historic move that included securing the strategically important UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.

"For the first time in more than 50 years, the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure, following a political agreement between the UK and Mauritius," the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

It said that the agreement is strongly supported by international partners, including the US, which has joint operation of the strategic military base.

The Foreign Office stressed that without this move, the long-term, secure operation of the military base "would be under threat," with contested sovereignty and legal challenges, including through various international courts and tribunals.

"It will strengthen our role in safeguarding global security, shut down any possibility of the Indian Ocean being used as a dangerous illegal migration route to the UK, as well as guaranteeing our long-term relationship with Mauritius, a close Commonwealth partner," Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in the statement.