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The United Kingdom is pushing ahead with the deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands over to Mauritius, despite the country’s new Prime Minister demanding a better agreement. The deal, which was announced in October, would give Mauritius sovereignty over the islands while the UK would maintain a 99-year lease on the military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia. Last month, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage predicted that the deal would be met with “outright hostility” by the incoming Trump administration, fearing that it could boost China’s influence in the region.
On Tuesday, Mauritius said it had put forward changes to the original deal, which was struck before former Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth suffered a landslide defeat in a general election, succeeding him as Prime Minister. However, the country’s new PM, Navin Ramgoolam, told the Mauritian parliament that the draft deal was not good enough for his country. He did not spell out what changes he was seeking.
In the Commons, Conservative Dame Priti accused the Labour government of putting the UK’s national security at risk, ignoring the interests of Chagossians, and “letting our standing go into freefall” in an increasingly dangerous world. “If the deal is so good, why has the government been so secretive about the details?” she asked. Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty argued the deal was in all sides’ interests.
Despite criticisms, Doughty insisted that the deal would enhance, not damage UK security, saying it would protect the military base’s operation and ensure it was “on a safe footing well into the next century”. He said the UK would be able to extend its lease beyond 99 years, that Britain and its allies would continue to have operational autonomy, and that “safeguards” were in place to prevent other countries’ forces operating on the archipelago’s outer islands. He said it was “not normal practice” to comment on the costs of military bases
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