The Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam of the Indian Ocean state of Mauritius told the media that he is consulting law firms, as Britain has yet to ratify the Chagos Islands sovereignty agreement. RT reports: “Under an agreement signed in May 2025, the U.K. should transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while leasing back the strategically important island of Diego Garcia for an initial 99-year period to continue operating the joint U.S.-U.K. military base there.”
U.S. President Donald Trump recently publicly denounced Prime Minister Keir Starmer for making the deal, even with the 99-year lease of Diego Garcia.
Mauritius Prime Minister Ramgoolam said: “We are exploring legal avenues in the Chagos case.” He added that the country is also looking to close a gap of about 10 billion Mauritian rupees ($211 million) in the national budget. The lease payments will amount to an estimated $3.9 billion over the period.
The Chagos Archipelago was administered together with Mauritius by Britain until 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence from the U.K., and has since been the subject of a long-running sovereignty dispute.
