Starmer's plan for Chagos Islands rejected, Mauritius PM Ramgoolam floats new deal

The new government in Mauritius has put the deal over Chagos Islands with the United Kingdom in jeopardy.

In a historic deal announced in October, the British and Mauritian governments agreed that the UK would hand over the sovereignty of Chagos Islands , a cluster of some 60 islands around 1,000 kilometres from Indian subcontinent, to Mauritius and secure a 99-year lease for the strategic US-UK military base at Diego Garcia, which is located on one of the islands of the archipelago.

Weeks after the deal was announced, Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, who presided over the negotiations of the deal, lost elections in a landslide defeat. The new government of PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam ordered a review of the deal soon after taking over the administration and last week announced that it has essentially junked the deal.

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Ramgoolam on Tuesday (December 24) said that there were “certain things” in the deal that he could not accept.

After Ramgoolam ordered the review and submitted a counter-proposal, the British government submitted its response which is under review by the Mauritian government, according to BBC News.

The stand-off with the Ramgoolam government over the Chagos Islands deal is a major embarrassment for British PM Sir Keir Starmer, who is already dealing with unpopularity at home amid worsening economic crisis — the British economy registered 0 per cent growth in the July-September quarter. The Chagos Islands deal also generated criticism in the UK as the Conservative Party saw it as a betrayal of British and security interests in the hugely important Indo-Pacific region.

The British are quibbling on small amount, says Mauritian Deputy PM

While the Mauritian government has not made its problems with the deal public, the leaders have indicated the dispute is about the money.

Under the terms of the deal announced in October, the UK would pay Mauritius annually for the next 99 years for the lease as well as fund infrastructure development in the Indian Ocean nation. Deputy Prime Minister

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Paul Berenger has said that the terms are not good enough for his government.

“This base [at Diego Garcia] existed on our land, on our territory… but not only it is [about] our sovereignty. There are some things you can’t accept if you’re a true patriot. They are trying to make us sign and they are quibbling on a small amount,” said Berenger, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Ramgoolam has also conveyed his de-facto rejection of the deal to the outgoing Joe Biden administration of the United States, which is party to the deal as it jointly operates the Diego Garcia military base. In a call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Ramgoolam said he did not agree with “certain things” in the deal.

“I made him understand that we do not agree with certain things contained in the agreement concluded on October 3 by the former Mauritian prime minister. [I] informed him that we have made a counter-proposal which will be transmitted to him,” said Ramgoolam to his MPs after the call, as per The Telegraph.

The newspaper reported that Ramgoolam was referring to the money that the UK would provide Mauritius, conveying to Blinken that Mauritius was not okay with the amount negotiated in the deal in October and wanted more. That would be in line with his previous statements.

Previously, the newspaper had reported that Ramgoolam had rejected the terms of the deal by saying it “would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect”.

Mauritius seeking a better bargain with UK

To be sure, Ramgoolam is not walking out of the deal but is driving for a better bargain. Earlier this month, he told the parliament that the government remained committed to the deal but on better terms.

“During the discussions, Mauritius made clear that while it is still willing to conclude an agreement with the United Kingdom, the draft agreement which was shown to us after the general elections is one which, in our view, would not produce the benefits that the nation could expect from such an agreement,” said Ramgoolam, according to BBC.

Following the exchange of proposals, a delegation of senior British officials including led by Harriet Mathews, the Director General for Africa, the Americas, and Overseas Territories at the Foreign Office, visited Mauritius. The specifics of the discussions were not made public.

The BBC quoted a spokesperson for Starmer as saying that the government continues to work with Mauritius to finalise the deal.

“We remain confident the agreement is in both sides interests and will continue to work with the new Mauritius government to finalise the deal. We’ve always said we’ll engage with the new administration in order to finalise the deal,” the spokesperson told BBC.

The Chagos Islands deal has come under great criticism from the Conservative Party in the Opposition. Shadow Defence and Foreign Secretaries James Cartlidge
and Dame Priti Patel slammed the Starmer government for surrendering the islands and also “to pay for the privilege of doing so”.

Contrary to major policy decisions, such as the support for Ukraine in the war with Russia, the Chagos Islands deal does not have bipartisan consensus in the UK. Even though the Foreign Office had negotiated the deal for two years through the previous premier Rishi Sunak’s term, his Defence Secretary Grant Shapps had blocked the deal as the arrangements were “a shocker”.

“It surrenders sovereignty and pays for the pleasure! That’s why I stepped in to block this disastrous deal,” said Shapps in October.

Shapps further called the deal “weak and deeply regrettable”.

“This is absolutely appalling. Surrendering sovereignty here creates read across to other British bases. It’s a weak and deeply regrettable act from this government,” said Shapps.