A prospective deal on returning the Chagos islands to Mauritius will ensure the United States maintains its strategic military base on the Indian Ocean archipelago, Mauritius's prime minister said onSunday.
"There is a disinformation campaign in the United States claiming that we are close to China, that we are going to let them open bases, which is completely untrue," Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told the Le Mauricien newspaper.
"Mauritius is close to India, not China. Donald Trump must understand that by supporting this deal he is securing the base at Diego Garcia," he said, ahead of the US businessman's inauguration as president on Monday.
Britain and its former colony reached a deal in October to hand back Chagos, which it had kept control of after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s, on the condition that a UK-US military base would remain on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
Long-range bombers and ships
But Ramgoolam's government, in office since November, has reopened the talks, reportedly seeking greater financial compensation and to renegotiate the length of the proposed lease for the base.
The British government said this week that it would consult the incoming US administration of Donald Trump after the deal was criticised by some of his Republican allies.
Britain set up the Diego Garcia base after independence and leased it to the United States, which has used it as a hub for long-range bombers and ships, notably during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But in doing so, Britain evicted thousands of Chagos islanders who have since mounted a series of legal claims for compensation in British courts.
'Serious threat'
Under the proposed agreement, the UK would retain a 99-year lease on the base for a payment of £90 million ($110 million) a year, according to British media.
London "has realised that it would be inelegant to sign a deal just before Trump takes power, as he might take it badly," Ramgoolam said.
Trump's pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said in October that the agreement posed "a serious threat" to US national security.
A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday: "It is perfectly reasonable for the new US administration to actually consider the detail and we will obviously have those discussions with them."
Fight for full sovereignty
But the spokesperson rejected suggestions that Trump could "veto" any agreement, saying: "We will only agree to a deal that is in the UK's best interests and protects our national security."
If Washington refuses to support the deal, Ramgoolam said Mauritius would pursue its fight for full sovereignty over the Chagos islands.
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