The UK government has said that there is “no pause” in its plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, following confusion over comments made by a minister suggesting that legislative action on the handover was temporarily halted.
A UK government source said that no deadline had been set for passing the legislation and that an announcement would be made in the usual way regarding the timing of the next steps.
The comments come after Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer made a statement in the House of Commons about the UK’s decision to “pause” while holding discussions with the US.
Mr. Falconer made the comments during a session in Parliament about the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill, which would ratify an agreement made in 2019 to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while also allowing for a joint UK and US military base on Diego Garcia, which is the largest island in the archipelago. The UK would pay an average of 101 million pounds per year to lease the base.
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“There was support from the US administration for this treaty, which has not changed,” Falconer said to MPs.
“There clearly has been a statement from the president of the United States more recently, which is very significant.
And as I told the House, we are now discussing those concerns with the United States directly. We have a process going through Parliament in relation to the treaty. We will bring that back to Parliament at the appropriate time. We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts.”
Falconer’s comments came following US President Donald Trump’s public call to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to abandon the agreement last week, despite Trump previously showing support for it. In his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote to the UK: “Do not give away Diego Garcia. It is a blight on our great ally. We must have it under UK control.”
The reaction to the intervention has been mixed. A spokesperson from Prime Minister Starmer’s office claimed that there had been no change in the UK’s position.
They reiterated the government’s commitment to talks with the US regarding “next steps.”
The US State Department, which had officially supported the treaty the day before President Trump’s comments, declined to comment after the speech from Falconer in Parliament.
Mauritius has long claimed sovereignty over the islands. The island nation has expressed cautious relief.
Attorney General Gavin Glover claimed he was unsurprised by the comments from Falconer. “There has been no discussion on the legislative process for the last three weeks.
I note it says a pause from the legislative process and not a backing off. I am in close contact with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.”
This is not the first time the legislative process in the UK has been delayed.
The Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill is a bill meant to implement the Chagos Islands treaty in the UK and is still in the House of Lords.
In January, a scheduled debate on the bill was put off after Conservative Lords tabled an amendment to the bill, suggesting a pause in the ratification process due to “changing geopolitical circumstances.” Conservative Lords had always been opposed to the treaty.
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Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty attacked the move, saying it was a move by Conservative Lords to use “parliamentary stunts” to undermine the ratification process.
Since January, the bill has not been scheduled for further debate in the Lords. Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones has said the bill will come back “as soon as parliamentary time allows.”
The Chagos Islands, also referred to as the British Indian Ocean Territory, have been an area of tension in international diplomacy over the years.
The UK forcibly removed the native population of the island in the late 1960s and early 1970s to make way for the US military base in Diego Garcia, which remains an important base in US operations in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East regions.
The issue of sovereignty over the islands has been pursued in international courts by Mauritius due to the decolonization policy.
The recent agreement between the UK and Mauritius in 2019 marked an important milestone in the resolution of the prolonged conflict over the islands.
Although the agreement transfers sovereignty over the islands to Mauritius, the treaty also permits the UK and the US to operate military bases in Diego Garcia for an extended period with financial arrangements for joint operations in the base.
Falconer’s Commons statement reflects the fine line that the UK government has to walk in this situation, being bound by its obligations to the government of Mauritius, as well as its relationship with the United States.
Trump’s involvement, although not part of the official diplomatic process, has brought an extra level of attention to the situation, despite the US State Department’s continued support for the treaty.
At present, the UK government is adamant that the process is still in place and that there has been no official suspension of the bill.
