UK agrees to give Chagos Islands to Mauritius

The United Kingdom has agreed to give sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, located 500 kilometres south of Maldives, over to Mauritius.

The decision was announced today in a joint statement issued by the Prime Ministers of the UK and Mauritius.

"Today’s political agreement is subject to the finalisation of a treaty and supporting legal instruments, which both sides have committed to complete as quickly as possible," the statement reads.

After half a century, the islands were ceded to Mauritius after two years of negotiations.

The Chagos Islands include Diego Garcia, the closest island to the Maldives, where the U.S. currently operates a long-term leased military base. The island is designated for naval ships, bombers, and long-haul aircraft, and is part of a separate atoll in the Chagos Archipelago leased to the United States for an extended period.

The agreement to handoverthe Islands will allow US to continue its operations in Diego Garcia, a strategic location for geopolitical rivals, India and China as well.

"Under the terms of this treaty the United Kingdom will agree that Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia. At the same time, both our countries are committed to the need, and will agree in the treaty, to ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the existing base on Diego Garcia which plays a vital role in regional and global security," the statement reads about Diego Garcia.

"For an initial period of 99 years, the United Kingdom will be authorised to exercise with respect to Diego Garcia the sovereign rights and authorities of Mauritius required to ensure the continued operation of the base well into the next century."

The decision today follows a previous advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) suggesting that the islands belong to Mauritius. At the time the United Nation's General Assembly also voted implement the recommendation.

The 2019 ICJ opinion declared Britain's occupation of Chagos was illegal, and that Mauritius is the rightful sovereign of the land. However, as it was an advisory opinion, it was not legally binding, but still became a cause of concern as UK was said to be in violation of international law.

This decision was followed by Mauritius submitting a case against Maldives at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (ITLOS) over the territorial boundary of the sea. The tribunal also ruled that UK had no jurisdiction over the island and concluded the case in favour of Maldives using the equidistance formula.

ITLOS has allocated the disputed overlapping territory of 95,000 square kilometers between Maldives and Mauritius, providing each country with a 200-mile continental shelf. Maldives has been granted 47,232 square kilometers while Mauritius has been given 45,331 square kilometers.

Mauritius received 0.960 square kilometers for every square kilometer received by Maldives.

However, the opposition party of Maldives accused that the then government "sold" a portion of Maldives' land and pledged to recover it. The current administration has made it their presidential pledge and the matter has been assigned to a special committee.