UK Transfers Chagos Islands to Mauritius

23 May 2025

The UK Prime Minister has transferred the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, including the key Diego Garcia military base.

The Diego Garcia military base will now be leased from Mauritius for £3 billion ($4 billion) over the 99-year lease period

About the Dispute

British Colony: The islands have been under British sovereignty since 1814 and was separated from Mauritius in 1965 designating the area as the British Indian Ocean Territory.
- Mauritius gained independence in 1968 but Britain maintained control over the Chagos Islands.
Britain invited the US military to use the Diego Garcia base for military purposes in the 1970s and exiled indigenous Chagos people from there.
India’s Stance: India has always backed Mauritius’ claim to the Archipelago and welcomed the UK-Mauritius deal restoring Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.

Location: The Chagos Islands is a group of seven atolls with more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 km south of the Maldives archipelago.
- It is the southernmost archipelago of the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge (a submarine mountain range)
Native Population: The Chagos Islands had been home to the Chagossians, a Bourbonnais Creole-speaking people
Neighbours Islands:
- North: The Salomon Islands, Nelsons Island and Peros Banhos
- Southeast: The US-UK military base of Diego Garcia is situated here.

It is the largest island in the archipelago and has been used as a joint UK–U.S. military base since the 1970s.
American Base: The Island is one of two critical U.S. bomber bases in the Indo-Pacific region with the US describing it as “an almost indispensable platform” for security operations across the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa

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