Prime minister of Mauritius reuncovers talks with UK over Chagos Islands deal | News

Mauritius’s prime minister says he rerentd ‘counterproposals’ to UK over Chagos Islands deal.

A historic deal for the United Kingdom to hand over deal with of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has been put into ask after the African island country’s recent prime minister rerentd “counterproposals”.

The British rulement still schedules to hand over deal with of the chain of 60-some islands to Mauritius under the condition that a strategic combinet UK-US military base on the bigst of the islands, Diego Garcia, would remain under British deal with for at least 99 years.

Mauritius’s Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, who took office last month, shelp on Tuesday that he was reuncovering negotiations because the current deal “would not create the advantages that the nation could foresee from such an concurment”.

Ramgoolam tageder lawcreaters in Mauritius’s parliament that his rulement “is still willing to finish an concurment with the United Kingdom” and had surrfinisherted counterproposals.

Britain’s minister for UK overseas territories, Stephen Doughty, shelp on Wednesday that he was brave the deal would be finalised and that it is “finishly comprehfinishable” for the recent Mauritian rulement to seek time to scrutinize the details.

“I am brave that we have concurd a excellent and equitable deal that is in both sides’ interests,” he tageder lawcreaters in the House of Commons. “It gets the base at proportionate cost. It has been aided atraverse the national security architecture in the United States and by India.”

The UK’s opposition Conservatives have accused the rulement of surrfinishering sovereignty over a British territory.

US Plivent Joe Biden praised the concurment as “historic”, emphasising its presentance for the future of the US Navy base on Diego Garcia. However, aiders of US Plivent-elect Donald Trump have criticised the deal.

The base, which is home to about 2,500 American military personnel, has been depictd as “an all but indispensable platcreate” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.

The Chagos Islands have been under British deal with since 1814. In the 1960s and 1970s, Britain forcibly evicted proximately 2,000 locals to create way for the US military base, which carry outed a pivotal role in US military operations in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In 2008, the US also accomprehendledged that the base had been used for cclear rfinishition fweightlesss of “radicalism” doubts.

The displaced Chagossians have fought for years in British courts for the right to return to their homeland. Under the terms of the recent concurment, they and their descfinishants would be apshowed to return to the islands, though they would be take awayd from Diego Garcia.

Mauritius, an African nation findd about 2,100 kilometres (1,300 miles) southwest of the Chagos Islands, lies off the easerious coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.