Multimillion-pound payments to Mauritius have been paused while the UK government re-evaluates its agreement to relinquish sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, according to the Defence Secretary, reports BritPanorama.
Wes Streeting stated that the accord transferring the Chagos Islands to Mauritius “can’t go ahead without American support,” following comments from US President Donald Trump branding the pact “terrible.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the cabinet minister confirmed that annual disbursements amounting to at least £120 million will not be provided “at this stage.”
Last May, the UK government finalised a treaty transferring sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius. The 99-year agreement committed Britain to paying £165 million annually for the first three years, decreasing to £120 million a year thereafter, to ensure the continued presence of a joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia.
During discussions with Prime Minister Andy Burnham in New York on Tuesday, Mr Trump referred to the islands as “a very important piece of real estate, militarily and strategically.”
Referring to the treaty, he told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly fringe meeting: “I don’t support it. I think it’s a terrible deal.”
After their meeting, Mr Burnham said the government would “work hard” to find a “resolution between the different sides.”
Mr Streeting said on Wednesday: “This deal, as it is currently constituted, can’t go ahead without American support. So, we have to get a deal to a place where it commands American support as well as the agreement of the government of Mauritius and our government.”
“And the reason why that is important is because we are trying to safeguard not just now but for the longer term the base at Diego Garcia and the capability it provides the United Kingdom and the United States for our national and collective security.”
Asked whether the yearly payment would go ahead, the Defence Secretary said: “Not at this stage. We’ve got to get to a point where we can agree a deal.”
Mr Streeting added that a financial agreement would be “a price worth paying” if it secured the UK’s long-term ability to use the military base.
Asked on BBC Breakfast whether the government was reviewing the deal, Mr Streeting replied: “Yes, we have to, because the US doesn’t 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.”
Mauritius’s claim to the Chagos Archipelago was backed by an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in 2019. Mr Streeting earlier told Times Radio that while the ICJ’s ruling was “advisory now, there is a potential further course of legal action avenue open to the government of Mauritius.”
He warned that further action was “too great a risk to carry on,” in case the UK and US had to give up their military presence on the islands.
He said the administration led by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer “got to a point where they clearly believed they did have the support of all parties involved” before concerns were raised in Washington.
“I’m not pretending that’s an easy position and that resolving this is not going to be difficult,” Mr Streeting said. “It is difficult and necessarily painstaking work, but it is necessary.”
He added: “The ostrich strategy of sticking our heads in the sand and hoping it (will) go away, I would caution, is not a wise strategy when it concerns one of the most sensitive national security assets we have anywhere in the world.”
