UK to hold off on deal ceding Chagos Islands amid US opposition

A bill laying out plans to return the Indian Ocean archipelago, home to the US-UK Diego Garcia base, has been paused.The United Kingdom is setting aside a bill to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius amid a lack of support from United States President Donald Trump.“We have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support,” a UK government spokesperson said in a statement, according to the Reuters and AFP news agencies on Saturday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Trump tempers criticism of UK’s Chagos Islands deal after talk with Starmerlist 2 of 4UK’s Starmer making ‘a big mistake’ with Chagos Islands deal: Trumplist 3 of 4Trump says US does not need UK’s aircraft carriers for Iran warlist 4 of 4Did Iran launch missiles at US-UK base on Diego Garcia? Here’s what to knowend of listThis followed reports in the UK media that said a bill laying out plans to cede sovereignty of the 60-plus Indian Ocean islands had been dropped from the next parliamentary agenda.Last May, the UK and Mauritius jointly announced a deal that would return full sovereignty of Chagos to Mauritius, which is some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) away from the archipelago.Britain would then pay to lease Diego Garcia – the largest island and a strategic location in the middle of the Indian Ocean between Asia and Africa, which is home to the military base – on a 99-year lease to preserve US operations there.But Trump opposed the move, calling it an “act of great stupidity” in January.“Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US. Ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority – it is the entire reason for the deal,” the UK government spokesperson added in his statement.“We are continuing to engage with the US and Mauritius.”The statement added that the UK “continue[s] to believe ⁠the agreement is the best way to protect ⁠the long-term future of the base”.‘Big mistake’After Trump’s initial opposition, he appeared to momentarily back down in February after speaking with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying Starmer had made the “best deal he could make”.