Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that the United Kingdom is looking to renegotiate the agreement that would transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The move comes after the United States expressed strong reservations about the original deal, which was signed by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The Chagos archipelago, home to the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia, has long been a point of contention. The initial treaty would have handed control of the islands to Mauritius while allowing the U.S. to maintain a 99‑year lease on the base. In return, Mauritius was to receive £165 million over the first three years and £120 million annually from the fourth year onward.
President Donald Trump publicly opposed the arrangement, calling it a “terrible deal.” In response, the British government has paused payments to Mauritius and is seeking a compromise that satisfies both the U.S. and Mauritian governments.
Burnham told the Economist that the UK is exploring a model similar to the U.S.–Denmark agreement on Greenland. That deal keeps Greenland under Danish sovereignty while permitting a substantial U.S. military presence and restricting other nations from establishing bases there.
“We are in discussion with our US friends to see how we might recast the arrangement that better meets their concerns,” Burnham said. “We look at the Greenland deal, and obviously there was a solution reached there. Now, maybe there is something we can take from that to see if there’s a solution that works in relation to Diego Garcia.”
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed that the UK cannot proceed with the Chagos agreement without American support. He emphasized the need for a deal that gains approval from both the U.S. and Mauritius.
The Prime Minister made the statement on his return from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua, where Caribbean leaders had pressed for a resolution to the Chagos dispute.
Source: The Guardian World
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