London. The British government announced on Saturday that London will abandon its plan to hand over the Chagos Islands, which host the US-British military base Diego Garcia, due to strong opposition from US President Donald Trump. A government spokesperson stated in a statement: "We have always said that we will not proceed with the agreement unless it has the support of the United States." At the same time, reports indicated that the legislation related to returning the archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius was at risk due to the limited time available for its passage through Parliament. Trump had condemned what he called London's "folly" regarding the agreement in January last year. The agreement from last May on Chagos stipulated that Britain would hand over the archipelago, located about 2,000 kilometers northeast of Mauritius, to its former colony and lease the largest island, Diego Garcia—home to the base—for a century. The spokesperson added: "Diego Garcia is of strategic military importance to both the UK and the US." Prime Minister Keir Starmer had previously emphasized that previous international judicial rulings had raised doubts about Britain's sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, and that the base's continued operation could not be guaranteed without an agreement with Mauritius. Britain had retained control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s. Thousands of Chagos residents were forcibly evicted and later filed lawsuits in British courts demanding compensation. In 2019, the International Court of Justice advised Britain to return the archipelago to Mauritius. He stated: "The UK is now planning to abandon Diego Garcia without any reason at all." He added: "There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this move, which reflects utter weakness," arguing that this justifies the US's pursuit of seizing Greenland from Denmark. Diego Garcia is one of two bases that Britain has allowed the US to use under what London insists are "defensive operations" in Washington's war on Iran. He added that London is "in communication with the US and Mauritius" on this matter. While Trump had backed the agreement upon signing, he soon attacked it in statements on his Truth Social network in January. BBC, citing government officials, said the agreement had not been entirely scrapped. However, they noted that the related legislation would not be passed before Parliament dissolves in the coming weeks, and no new bill on Chagos is expected. The British government did not specify the cost of the lease, but it did not deny that the amount could be £90 million ($111 million) annually. "Ensuring our long-term operational security is a priority for us and will remain so, and this is fundamentally the reason for this agreement."
