22nd May 2025 06:44
(Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is due to sign off on the Chagos Islands deal on Thursday, handing them over to Mauritius.
The PA news agency understands the deal will be signed on Thursday, after several weeks in which it appeared to be on hold over political difficulties.
The government has argued that it has to give up sovereignty over the islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, due to international legal rulings in favour of Mauritius.
The prime minister is due to attend a virtual ceremony alongside representatives from the Mauritian government on Thursday morning to sign off on the deal, according to the Telegraph newspaper, which first reported the story.
Under the terms of the deal, Britain is expected to give up sovereignty of the island territory to Mauritius, and lease back a crucial military base on the archipelago for 99 years.
Following the signing ceremony, MPs will be updated on the terms of the deal in the House of Commons, which could include a 40-year extension to the lease of the military base, the Telegraph said.
Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, is home to a joint UK-US military base, used to project Western influence in the Indian Ocean.
Critics of proposals to hand over the islands to Mauritius fear the move will benefit China, which has a growing reach in the region.
News reports recently suggested the deal had been delayed, with the Times newspaper claiming it had become "toxic" amid criticism from Labour's political opponents.
The Conservatives are among those which have criticised Labour's handling of the negotiations, though they began discussing the handover with Mauritius when they were in power.
Speaking in the House of Commons just this week, Defence Secretary John Healey insisted the base on Diego Garcia was "essential to our security", and the UK's security relationship with the US.
"We've had to act, as the previous government started to do, to deal with that jeopardy, we're completing those arrangements and we'll report to the House when we can," he added.
By David Lynch, PA Political Correspondent
Press Association: News
source: PA
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