By an agreement described as “historic” after more than half a century of dispute, the United Kingdom transfers sovereignty of these islands in the Indian Ocean while preserving the military interests of the United States.
Correspondent in London
The agreement is presented as “historical”. London announced this Thursday that it would abandon sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, thus putting an end to decades of territorial dispute. But the arrangement was only possible on the condition that the United Kingdom retained control of the Diego Garcia military base, used by the American ally. A strategic location, right in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
Two years of negotiations were necessary to reach an agreement. In a joint declaration, London recognizes the sovereignty of Mauritius over the Chagos Islands. For Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, this day marks the “complete decolonization of our republic”. However, for an initial period of 99 years, the UK will be “authorized to exercise sovereign rights over Diego Garcia, in order to ensure the continued operation of the base”. The Mauritian government will be able to resettle inhabitants on the other islands of this archipelago which has around fifty.
A “surrender”
“This government inherited a situation in which the safe and long-term operation of the Diego Garcia military base was threatened, with contested sovereignty and continuing legal challenges,” explained the head of British diplomacy David Lammy. “Today’s agreement guarantees the future of this essential military base”welcomed the Labor minister who took office in July. The United States immediately welcomed the agreement. President Joe Biden said Diego Garcia’s base is playing “a vital role in national, regional and global security”. And welcomed that “guarantees its proper functioning over the next century”.
On the other hand, tenors of the British conservative opposition rose up against the agreement. Former Foreign Office chief James Cleverly, currently in the running to become Tory leader, said “weak, weak, weak”… Another candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party, Robert Jenrick, denounced a «capitulation» of the United Kingdom. Critics of the agreement say it plays into the hands of China, which cultivates close ties with Mauritius. The agreement must be concretized by a treaty, which both parties say they are determined to sign as quickly as possible.
Also readThe Chagos Islands, an object of desire in the middle of the Indian Ocean
The dispute dates back to the 1960s. Great Britain, which had controlled the region since 1814, detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius in 1965, three years before this colony became independent, to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. (BIOT). At the time, the big American cousin was closely interested in Diego Garcia, who made it possible to control the major maritime routes through which hydrocarbons and raw materials transit and to intervene militarily throughout the region. The following year, in 1966, London and Washington signed an agreement placing the largest island, Diego Garcia, at the disposal of the United States for a period of fifty years.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the British expelled nearly 2,000 inhabitants to Mauritius and the Seychelles, to make way for a military base on Diego Garcia. The vast lagoon can accommodate larger vessels, including aircraft carriers, and the large airstrip receives strategic bombers. It was used in particular during the Gulf War of 1991, the conflict in Afghanistan from 2001 and the Iraq War of 2003. Today, Diego Garcia is considered an important asset in the face of China’s ambitions in the region. . In 2016, this strategic lease was renewed for twenty years, ensuring an American presence until 2036.
Concern in the Falklands
From the end of the 1990s, a series of legal challenges were launched, both before the British and international courts. The Chagossians attacked the British government but were rejected by the House of Lords in 2008. The rest took place at the UN. In 2019, after an opinion from the International Court of Justice, the General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution stating that Britain must relinquish control of the islands and that it had unjustly forced the population to leave. Even if it is only an opinion, the decision of the international court puts a little more pressure on London. Pravind Jugnauth then declared that he was “now it’s time for the sun to set on the last British colony in Africa”.
The agreement on this archipelago lost in the middle of the Indian Ocean has caused a certain stir in other islands also lost in the depths of the South Atlantic. The inhabitants of the Falklands Islands (or Falklands) are therefore alarmed, fearing that this agreement will open the way to abandoning their land in the face of Argentinian demands. So much so that the governor of the Falklands issued a press release for the “to reassure”saying that the “legal and historical context” of the Chagos is very different from that of the Falklands Islands. He also assures that the British government has been very clear on the fact that this agreement “would in no way threaten sovereignty over other overseas territories”.
