MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New Mauritius government questions the Chagos archipelago agreement, “not enough benefits for our country”

The US/UK base of Diego Garcia in the Chagos archipelago of is a strategic outpost in the Indian Ocean

British media is reporting that the Republic of Mauritius has submitted changes to a proposed deal over the future of the Chagos Islands, with the country's new PM arguing the original agreement did not benefit his country enough.

According to the terms of the agreement, which was announced in October, UK would relinquish sovereignty to Mauritius over the archipelago but maintain a 99-year lease over Diego Garcia, home to a major UK-US military airbase in the Indian Ocean. However it was finalized shortly before an election in which then-Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth lost in a landslide defeat.

His successor Navin Ramgoolam has since said he had reservations about the deal, which has also attracted criticism from the opposition Conservative party in the UK and officials in the incoming Trump administration.

When the agreement was first made public after years of talks, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Jugnauth called it a “seminal moment in our relationship and a demonstration of our enduring commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes and the rule of law”.

The British government has said that it also “protects the long term secure operation of [the military] base”. Soon after coming into office last month, however, Ramgoolam asked legal experts to review the terms of the deal.

Speaking in the Mauritian parliament on Tuesday, Ramgoolam said that his government had submitted counter-proposals aimed at ensuring that the final agreement aligned with the nation's interests.

“During the discussions, Mauritius made clear that while it is still willing to conclude an agreement with the United Kingdom, the draft agreement which was shown to us after the general elections is one which, in our view, would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect from such an agreement,” Ramgoolam told MPs. He did not spell what the counter-proposals were or the exact nature of the objections. Ramgoolam confirmed that the UK's response to these proposals was received on Monday and is currently under review.

A delegation of senior officials from the UK, led by Harriet Mathews, director general for Africa, the Americas, and Overseas Territories at the Foreign Office, visited Mauritius last week.
Apparently criticisms are centered on granting the UK a long lease over Diego Garcia of “200 years”, though the publicized timeframe was an initial period of 99 years.

“In other words,” a cabinet minister from the president Ramogoolam administration, remarked to the media that, “the tenant has become the owner of Diego Garcia for 200 years.”

In the UK meanwhile, the opposition Conservative party said on Tuesday that the terms of the proposed deal were “disadvantageous to the United Kingdom”, even initial talks and tentative clause agreements were started by the Tories.

The Chagos archipelago and the Diego Garcia base are strategically located in the Indian Ocean, and the West is fearful they could fall under the influence of a pro-China Mauritius administration.