British government denies disagreement with Mauritian prime minister over Chagos Islands deal | The Chagos Islands

Downing Street has denied that a deal with Mauritius to hand over control of the Chagos Islands is at risk after the new Mauritius prime minister said the scheme as it stood was not beneficial to his country.

The deal, under which Britain would hand over its final African colony while retaining control of the British-American military base on the island of Diego Garcia for at least 99 years, was struck in October with the former Mauritian administration.

But Navinchandra Ramgoolam, who returned as prime minister for a third term after a general election in November, subsequently ordered a review of the agreement signed by his predecessor, Pravind Jugnauth.

Speaking to his country’s parliament on Tuesday, Ramgoolam said a meeting with British officials last week had engaged Mauritius in seeking better terms.

“Mauritius made it clear that while it is still willing to enter into an agreement with the UK, the draft agreement shown to us after the general election is one which, in our view, would not deliver the benefits that the nation could expect. from such an agreement,” he said.

“Mauritius therefore submitted counter-proposals to the UK so that an agreement can be reached that is in Mauritius’ best interests. The UK’s response to our counter-proposals was received yesterday afternoon and is now being processed.”

Asked if the deal was unravelling, Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “I wouldn’t characterize it that way at all. As you know there has been a change of leadership in Mauritius. It makes sense that we would engage in dialogue with the new administration on the details of the deal, and that’s what we’re doing.”

He added: “Our position on the agreement, which has not changed, is that the government inherited a situation where the long-term secure operation of the military base at Diego Garcia was threatened through contentious sovereignty and legal challenges, including through various international courts and tribunals.

“The agreement we have reached with Mauritius protects the long-term secure operation of the UK-US base which plays such a vital role in regional and international security.”

The spokesman said work was being done with the new Mauritian government on “the details of the agreement”, but declined to say what those might be.

The conservative opposition in Britain has criticized the deal as an unnecessary surrender of sovereignty, which could give China greater influence in the region. The government has noted that discussions about the deal began under the Tories.

There are also concerns that Donald Trump would block the deal. His choice for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, warned that the deal poses “a serious threat” to US national security by ceding the islands to a country allied with China.

British ministers have said uncertainty over the islands’ legal status threatened the base’s operation and that the deal had the support of the entire US security establishment. Joe Biden’s administration has offered its public support for it.