The UK government is set to initiate talks with the incoming US administration of Donald Trump in a bid to keep the Chagos Islands agreement in place, the Guardian reported Tuesday (Nov. 26). The UK, under the administration of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, had decided in October to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after over two centuries of control. The move allowed hundreds of displaced islanders to return to their homeland.
But the victory of Donald Trump has now triggered concerns in London over the prospects of the US pulling out the deal with the Indian Ocean country unilaterally. It is because Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, had criticised the deal in October, saying it puts American national security at risk given the presence of a joint military base of the UK and US on the territory.
Guardian has reported that Jonathan Powell, the man who negotiated the deal this autumn, is planning to travel to Washington DC, in the coming days to hold discussions with the Trump team.
Earlier, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, claimed this month that the Trump team saw this deal with “outright hostility.”
“Diego Garcia was described to me by a senior Trump adviser as the most important island on the planet as far as America was concerned,” Farage said in the UK Parliament.
Powell, UK National Security Adviser, also travelled to Mauritius earlier this week to hold discussions with the new government.
His potential talks with the Trump team would focus on ensuring the US administration that the handover deal does not threaten US security. It is because some in the US believe that the government in Mauritius is a close partner to China, a rival nation.
The previous government of Conservatives had held 11 rounds of discussions with the Mauritius government.
Watch: Chagos Deal In Doubt After Trump Victory?
India also played a quiet yet key role in facilitating the agreement between the UK and Mauritius, having always supported the claim of Mauritius to the island, which includes Diego Garcia.
India welcomed the deal, calling it a part of decolonisation even as the UK said it would continue to have the right to use the base in Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago. New Delhi said it was a positive outcome for all the parties and a move that will enhance long-term security in the Indian Ocean.
(With inputs from agencies)