UK Minister Concedes Chagos Islands Treaty Halt Due to US Withdrawal

A UK Foreign Office minister has announced that a treaty to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is no longer viable due to a lack of agreement at the political level. This development means that the corresponding bill will not be able to complete its passage through parliament.

Stephen Doughty informed the Commons that the initial agreement with Mauritius was negotiated in close coordination with the US. However, the position of former US President Donald Trump 'appears to have changed', leading to a shift in the US stance on the treaty.

Background to the Treaty

The treaty in question involved the UK ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and leasing the island of Diego Garcia, which hosts a joint UK-US military base, for a period of 99 years. This arrangement would have allowed for the continued operation of the base.

Doughty noted that Trump had initially described the treaty as 'very strong and powerful', and that it had undergone thorough testing at all levels of the US system under two administrations and was found to be robust. Despite this, the US ultimately withdrew its support for the agreement.

The withdrawal of US support has made it impossible to update the 1966 UK-US agreement, known as the 'exchange of notes', regarding the availability of British Indian Ocean territories for defense purposes. Doughty emphasized that updating this agreement was a necessary step to ratify the treaty.

As a result, the Diego Garcia bill cannot complete its passage in the current parliamentary session and cannot be carried over due to its advanced stage in the legislative process. Despite this setback, the UK government remains confident that the Diego Garcia treaty is the best means of protecting the full operation of the military base for future generations.

The delay in the treaty process will be disappointing news for many Chagossians, who see it as the only viable means to a sustainable resettlement program, which Mauritius would be able to implement under the terms of the treaty.