Much to Washington’s displeasure, the UK ceded control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius back in October last year. The US and London jointly operate a key military base on the archipelago’s main island, which is seen as vital to countering the Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean region.
The original deal to return sovereignty to Chagos included a clause that guaranteed that the base would operate as normal. But a new administration in Port Louis now rejects those terms, demanding greater compensation. The UK has now offered some £90 million ($110 million) a year – plus a huge advance payment – for a 99 year lease. It’s desperate to ink a new agreement before Donald Trump’s inauguration on 20 January, as his team is dead against any deal and could scupper it. Of course, all of this wrangling does little to help islanders who were evicted from their homes to make way for the UK-US base. Despite fighting for decades to be allowed to return, they’ve been largely excluded from talks.
Sources:
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