Britain cedes Chagos Islands to Mauritius, keeps Diego Garcia base

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signed an agreement to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, the BBC reported on Friday.

The seven-island chain has been under British control since 1814. Its largest atoll, Diego Garcia, hosts a joint UK-US military base established in 1965.

Under the deal, London will lease the base for 99 years, paying Mauritius £101 million a year. The agreement also bars China or Russia from setting up intelligence facilities on neighbouring islands, Foreign Office sources told The Telegraph.

Britain evicted about 1,000 Chagossians between 1968 and 1974 to clear the way for construction of the base. In 2019 the UN’s International Court of Justice ordered the UK to return the territory; a political settlement was reached in October 2024.

The Diego Garcia base remains a key strategic hub for UK and US air operations in the Middle East and the wider Indian Ocean region.