Mauritius sets July 2026 deadline for UK to finalize Chagos Islands transfer

Mauritius has announced it will wait until the end of July 2026 for the United Kingdom to finalize the agreement for the transfer of the Chagos Islands.

The decision follows London’s suspension of the deal in the wake of objections raised by US President Donald Trump.

In the first meeting conducted between the two parties since the agreement was frozen, a UK delegation met with Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam. The discussions focused on the future of the memorandum regarding the transfer of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius and the continued operation of the joint US-UK military base on the island of Diego Garcia.

The agreement stipulates that the UK will relinquish its sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in favor of Mauritius, while requiring that the rights to use the strategic military base on Diego Garcia remain with London.

Mauritius Attorney General Gavin Glover stated that the Port Louis administration would give London until the end of July 2026, after which a final position would be determined based on political developments in the UK.

Sultan el-Baba, an expert on Africa, noted that the UK has not changed its legal stance regarding the recognition of Mauritius’ sovereignty over the islands. However, he emphasized that the implementation process was frozen due to US security concerns and political pressure related to the Diego Garcia base.

El-Baba observed that the government of Keir Starmer halted the legislative bill in Parliament following warnings from Donald Trump that the current formula could violate the 1966 agreement governing the use of the base.

The suspension of the process is reportedly driven by three fundamental strategic factors. These include the increasing importance of the Diego Garcia base in a potential conflict scenario with Iran, Washington’s concerns over expanding Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean via Mauritius, and domestic opposition within the UK that characterizes the agreement as a “strategic concession without compensation” that undermines relations with the US.