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Britain is seeking Donald Trump’s blessing before finalizing a deal with Mauritius on the future of a strategic UK military base in the Indian Ocean, people familiar with the talks said.
The UK government had hoped to reach an agreement with Mauritius on the Chagos Islands in recent weeks before the president-elect takes office on January 20.
On Sunday, British officials said there had been “good progress” in negotiations after London offered to impose a hefty fee on a proposed 99-year lease for Port Louis, the island’s largest and most important home, Diego Garcia. Defense base.
The Mauritius government will host a special cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning to approve the latest proposals.
However, Britain is not pushing for a treaty to be officially announced before the founding of the United States unless the deal receives clear approval from the incoming administration, the people said.
While various timing conditions remain in play, confidence among British government officials that a deal will be finalized before next Monday has faded.
A senior U.K. Foreign Office official will be in Washington to discuss the matter with representatives from both outgoing President Joe Biden’s team and incoming Trump’s team, according to people familiar with the situation.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, criticized the plan last fall, fearing it could strengthen China’s interests in the Indian Ocean.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, has raised concerns in the past and has been monitoring the issue closely. In 2022 he warned The negotiations could jeopardize Diego Garcia’s naval service.
However, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told MPs in November that US officials at the White House, the Pentagon, the Defense Department and the intelligence agencies supported the proposal, indicating he believed Trump and his allies would withdraw their support. Details.
Trump has not publicly commented on the proposed deal and it did not come up during a phone call with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in late December.
British government officials have argued privately that the UK is not trying to support the US, which concerns the future of the joint military base at Diego Garcia, which is used by US long-range bombers and warships.
The UK had to return to the negotiating table after an initial agreement was reached last October after Mauritian leader Pravind Jugnauth was ousted in a landslide general election.
In his place, the current Prime Minister of Mauritius, Naveen Ramgolam, said that the new administration wants to review the terms of the agreement, which was not ratified by the agreement.
Satyajit Bolel, a former Mauritius director of public prosecutions close to the administration, said Britain’s mistake was to start negotiations with the outgoing government.
“The new government needs to improve the deal,” Bolel said, adding that he wants both a shorter lease and more money. Once Britain accepted the “illegal occupation” of the Chagos, Mauritius said there was a case for negotiating directly with Washington over the Diego Garcia lease.
“The negotiation should be between Mauritius and America. They took control of Diego Garcia, where we have sovereignty.
The last Conservative administration in 2011 Opening negotiations with Mauritius in 2022, after the UN court ruled that the UK does not have sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, the Tory party has been heavily critical of the proposed deal in recent months.
Shadow Tory Foreign Secretary Priti Patel on Tuesday accused Starmer of “giving away the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands” and called the deal “the most embarrassing failure of British diplomacy this century”.
The Foreign Office said last week: “We believe it is important to get the deal done quickly, but we have not set an exact date.” He added: “We will only conclude agreements that are in the UK’s national interest and within our and the US’s red lines.”
