UK pauses plan to cede Chagos Islands

London says will try to persuade Washington

LONDON:

Britain said on Saturday it had put on hold its deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands - home to the US-British Diego Garcia air base - which has been criticised by US President Donald Trump.

The planned legislation underpinning the deal to cede the islands to Mauritius, which needs the backing of Washington, would not be included in the government's next parliamentary agenda, The Times newspaper said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said London would try to persuade Washington to give its formal approval.

Trump said in February that the deal was a "big mistake", having previously said it was the best that Starmer would get.

Under the deal, Britain would retain control of the strategically important military base on Diego Garcia on a 99-year lease that preserves US operations there.

A British government spokesperson said ensuring the long-term operational security of Diego Garcia would remain a priority.

"We continue to believe the agreement is the best way to protect the long-term future of the base, but we have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support. We are continuing to engage with the US and Mauritius," the spokesperson said.

Britain forcibly displaced up to 2,000 indigenous Chagossians in the late 1960s and 1970s to establish the base on the Diego Garcia atoll.

Toby Noskwith, a spokesperson for Indigenous Chagossian People, a campaign group, said there had been some hesitation about the deal from the start from senior people in the Trump administration, perhaps even the President himself.