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Updated · Financial Times · Apr 10UK Halts Chagos Islands Handover as US Withdraws Support
56 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Apr 10
- The UK government has shelved plans to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after losing crucial US support.
- The move follows President Trump's reversal of support for the deal and a lack of formal US agreement, amid worsening US-UK relations.
- The future of the strategic Diego Garcia military base remains uncertain, with the legislation unlikely to appear in the upcoming King's Speech.
What was the final straw that turned the White House against the UK's Chagos Islands deal? Did the UK's deal risk handing a strategic asset to a nation with close ties to China? Why was the Chagos deal's price tag debated by tens of billions of pounds? How does the Chagos collapse reshape the balance of power in the Indian Ocean? With the sovereignty deal dead, can the exiled Chagossians finally return to their homeland? Could Mauritius now use international law to disrupt the vital Diego Garcia military base?