The UK said on Tuesday that a 2025 deal to hand over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius had helped secure the future of a key US-British military base in the Indian Ocean, after US President Donald Trump accused London of "great stupidity".
Trump, who supported the deal when it was signed in May last year, wrote on social media on Tuesday that the UK is doing so "giving up extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and a new reason, among a long list linked to national security, for which Greenland must be acquired".
Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the United Kingdom and to other European countries for opposing his claims on the Greenland, autonomous territory of Denmark.
The Chagos Agreement provides for the United Kingdom to return the archipelago — located approximately 2,000 kilometers northeast of mauritius — to his former colony and pays a sum to rent the American-British military base for a century.
London insisted that the deal, currently in its final stages d’parliamentary review, would move forward despite Trump's change of heart.
"Our position has not changed", said a British government spokesperson, welcoming the "solid provisions" of the agreement and emphasizing that countries ranging from Australia to Japan had welcomed it.
"This agreement ensures the operation of the joint US-British base at Diego Garcia for generations to come", added the spokesperson, referring to the largest island in the Chagos archipelago.
Mauritian reaction
Mauritius said it had "took note" comments from Trump criticizing the deal, while saying the issue was no longer up for debate.
"The sovereignty of the Republic of Mauritius over the Chagos Archipelago is already unambiguously recognized by international law and should no longer be called into question", said the Mauritian Attorney General Gavin Glover in a press release.
The American Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared last May that Washington "welcomed this historic agreement".
"The Trump administration believed that this agreement guaranteed the long-term, stable and efficient operation of the joint US-British military base at Diego Garcia", he said at the time.
The British Foreign Secretary, Stephen Doughty, indicated to Parliament on Tuesday that the United Kingdom would have "discussions" with the United States in the coming days "to remind them of the strength of this agreement and how it guarantees the future of the base".
"Major contributions"
The United Kingdom retained control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius' independence in the 1960s. But he had expelled thousands of residents, who have since hired a series of legal remedies in British courts for redress.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that the UK return the archipelago to Mauritius after decades of legal battles. According to the British government, challenges before national and international courts had established the status of the military base "under threat".
The government spokesperson insisted that the base constituted "one of the most important contributions to the intelligence and security relationship between the UK and the US".
"Almost all operations conducted from the ground up are in partnership with the United States", he added.
The base played a major strategic role during the Cold War, due to its proximity to Asia, then served as a platform for American bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and in Iraq. It was recently used to launch B-2 bomber strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen during the Gaza war.
Cost of the agreement
British opposition officials have criticized the deal, which calls for London to pay Mauritius £101 million ($136 million) a year for 99 years.
The net cost over the life of the lease would reach around £3.4 billion, including inflation, according to the government.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party in opposition, said: "Unfortunately, on this point, President Trump is right."
"Thank God Trump vetoed the surrender of the Chagos Islands", said Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right Reform UK party.
In contrast, Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democratic Party, wrote on X that the Prime Minister Keir Starmer had to start standing up to the American leader.
"This shows that Starmer’s approach to Trump has failed", did he declare. "The Chagos agreement was presented as proof that the government could work with it. Today everything is collapsing. It’s time for the government to stand up to Trump — giving in to a bully never works."
