Port Louis: Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth on Friday thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, the African Union and other friendly countries for "completing our decolonisation" after the UK agreed to hand over the sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands, an archipelago of nearly 60 islands in the Indian Ocean.
The UK decided to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as part of a deal to secure the US-UK military base at Diego Garcia. This move was hailed by India, which shares close relations with Mauritius and has backed the island nation's claims over the archipelago.
"Mauritius thanks the African Union @AfricanUnion, the Government of India @narendramodi and all friendly countries which have supported us in our fight for completing our decolonisation," said Jugnauth on X.
India's role in Chagos negotiations
The UK and Mauritius reached a historic agreement over the Chagos Islands, which will be handed over to the island country while Britain will retain sovereignty over the strategic military base at Diego Garcia. "For the first time in more than 50 years, the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure, following a political agreement between the UK and Mauritius," said the British government in a press release.
According to sources, India played a quiet yet important role in the background concerning the deal granting sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius by encouraging talks with an open mind while firming backing the Mauritian position. India's explicit public support regarding the Chagos Archipelago was conveyed by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in July.
"India remains committed to working with Mauritius and other like-minded partners in strengthening maritime safety and security and contributing to enhanced peace and prosperity in the Indian Ocean region," the ministry further said after the agreement was announced on Thursday.
What is the dispute?
The Chagos Archipelago consists of approximately 58 small, flat islands located in the central Indian Ocean. Historically, the archipelago was considered a dependency of Mauritius, originally a French colony that was later ceded to the UK under the Treaty of Paris in 1814. Mauritius remained under British rule until gaining independence in 1968.
In the years leading up to Mauritius' independence, the UK government, during negotiations, acceded to a US request to lease Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago, for the establishment of a joint military base. As part of this agreement, known as the Lancaster House Agreement, the UK government employed coercive measures to separate the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius before independence and forcibly relocated its inhabitants to Mauritius and Seychelles.
Since the 1980s, Mauritius has contested UK sovereignty over the islands, arguing that the agreement was signed under duress. Additionally, various groups of Chagossians, now dispersed among Seychelles, Mauritius, and the UK, have been advocating for their right to return to their homeland. The UK government split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius, creating a new colony in Africa, the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), according to a Human Rights Watch report.
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