The British government turns out to be paying even more than before to Mauritius for the Chagos Islands deal.
In a landmark agreement in October 2024, the United Kingdom and Mauritius announced that the United Kingdom would transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, an organization of approximately 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius and secure a 99-year lease for the British-UK military based in Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago.
Mauritius has now indicated that the British government has agreed to adjust the annual lease payment for inflation which would mean that the reported £90 million annual payment would keep rising for 99 years, increasing the actual cost of the deal by potentially hundreds of millions.
In statements to Mauritian parliamentarians on Tuesday, Ramgolam said he had reached a new agreement of the United Kingdom that is most favorable, according to the Daily Telegraph.
“The previous package was very badly negotiated. It seems somebody who didn’t know that inflation existed. [The deal] has to be inflation-proof. What’s the point of getting money and then having half of it by the end?” said Ramgoolam.
The resources of the United Kingdom government told The Telegraph that the true position of the unknown agreement, since no one knew how inflation would paint and develop the position.
There are two more key concessions that Mauritius appears to have secured from the UK.
First, Ramgoam told parliamentarians that Mauricio would keep the veto to extend the lease beyond years, according to Telegraph.
Previously, it had been reported that the United Kingdom can increase the 40 -year lease contract on its own.
Second, the Telegraph had reported in the past that the UK can discharge several years of pay in one tranche to Mauritius. The value of several years of prepayment is expected to melt the agreement for Mauritius.
The agreement of the Chagos Islands is in Limbo, because the administration of Donald Trump of the United States would oppose him. In addition, the agreement also opposed the United Kingdom. The conservatives nicknamed him a strategic error. The foot in the Chagos Islands and Diego García’s base are essential to determine China’s influence on the Indian Ocean region.
Dame Pri Patel, the Foreign Secretary, dubbed the deal the “epic Faula of diplomacy” in her criticisms.
“It turns out that Keir Starmer surely hasn’t learned anything, and puts his disgrace with a left-hand quote in our country’s history on our national security and our long-standing appointments with our closest ally,” Patel said, according to the Telegraph.
Previously, Patel had the agreement “economically. “
Patel said, “At a time when public spending is under serious pressure, they are also signing up to spend billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money leasing back a site that is currently under our sovereignty. And to add insult to injury, they are doing all this in secret, with Labour ministers keep refusing to explain the details to Parliament and the British public. They must urgently come clean on what exactly this surrender is going to cost us.”