UK to revisit Chagos Islands deal after Trump rejects current terms

LONDON — Britain will revisit its agreement to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after US President Donald Trump made clear he does not support the deal in its current form, UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said Wednesday.Trump described the agreement as a “terrible deal” during talks with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, saying he did not support it.Streeting said Trump’s remarks provided “absolute clarity” that Washington’s position on the agreement had not changed.“So we have to do more work with our American allies, with President Trump and his administration, to get the deal to a place where he can support it,” Streeting told the BBC.Under the agreement negotiated by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, Mauritius would assume sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago while Britain would retain control of the strategically important joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia under a 99-year lease.The agreement has not completed the parliamentary process required to take effect and was put on hold after Trump withdrew his support.Streeting said the agreement could not proceed without US backing because of the importance of Diego Garcia to both British and American security.The future of the military base is at the center of the dispute. Britain has argued that resolving uncertainty over sovereignty of the archipelago is necessary to guarantee the base’s long-term operation.Mauritius has long contested British sovereignty over the islands, which Britain separated from Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritian independence. In a 2019 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice said the UK should end its administration of the archipelago as rapidly as possible.Burnham said after meeting Trump that his government would work to find a resolution acceptable to the different parties, stressing the strategic importance of Diego Garcia.The government is not expected to launch a formal review with a fixed timetable, but its central position remains that any final agreement must secure US support.