"The agreement would have seen the UK cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius and pay an average of 101m ($136m) per year to lease back a joint UK-US military base on the archipelago's largest island, Diego Garcia."
"Doughty told MPs an update to the agreement allowing joint UK-US operation of the Diego Garcia military base had become 'impossible to agree at political level' between the two countries."
"In recent weeks, the position of the United States president appears to have changed. And this means that, in practical terms, it has become impossible to agree at political level an update to the 1966 UK-US agreement concerning the Availability for Defence Purposes of the British Indian Ocean Territory."
The Chagos Islands deal has been paused indefinitely after US President Trump withdrew support, according to foreign minister Stephen Doughty. The agreement involved the UK ceding sovereignty to Mauritius while leasing back a military base on Diego Garcia. Trump previously supported the treaty but later criticized it as an 'act of total weakness.' Doughty expressed frustration over the inability to progress legislation during the current parliamentary session, citing a shift in the US president's position as a key obstacle to updating the 1966 UK-US agreement regarding the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Read at www.bbc.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]