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The UK is reviewing its agreement to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after US President Donald Trump described the deal as “terrible”, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said, according to the BBC.
The original agreement, reached under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, would transfer sovereignty over the territory to Mauritius. In return, the UK would pay an average of £101 million ($136 million) a year to lease back a joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago.
Why the deal is being reconsidered
The agreement was paused indefinitely in April after Trump withdrew his support. Streeting said the UK had to review the arrangement because the United States did not support it.
“What President Trump said yesterday wasn’t new, but I think it does provide absolute clarity that his position on this Chagos deal as currently drafted is not changing,” Streeting told BBC Breakfast.
UK seeks agreement with US
“So we have to do more work with our American allies, with President Trump and his administration, to get the deal to a place where we can support it,” he added.
The military base on Diego Garcia is valued for its strategic location in the Indian Ocean and is jointly used by the UK and the US.
