New Delhi, April 17 (Bureau) Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth arrives today on an eight-day India visit, with his visit coinciding with that of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the Mauritius and United Kingdom are at loggerheads over ownership of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. The ownership of the islands has become a contentious issue between the two nations. Though Mauritius became independent in 1968, the Chagos archipelago remained under British control, sparking protests by Chagossians, who accuse London of carrying out an “illegal occupation” and barring them from their homeland. In 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled that Britain should give up control of the islands. In the same year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognising that “the Chagos Archipelago forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius” and urged UN agencies “to support the decolonisation of Mauritius”.
The UK insists the archipelago belongs to it and has renewed a lease agreement with the US to use Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands, until 2036, where London and Washington operate a joint military base. In August last year, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) – the UN postal agency – decided to ban British stamps from being used on the Chagos archipelago, a decision hailed by Mauritius as a victory in its dispute with the UK. In February this year, Mauritius hoisted its flag on the Peros Banhos atoll as Mauritian ambassador to the UN Jagdish Koonjul said the country is “reclaiming” the island from Britain. After the flag was raised, Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth described it as an “emotional moment” for the country. Prime Minister Jugnauth has accused the UK government of not abiding by international law. The UK government has rejected Mauritius’ claim over the islands.
The Chagos archipelago is a collection of seven coral atolls made up of over 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, about 500km south of the Maldives, midway between Tanzania and Indonesia. In the late 18th century French planters established coconut plantations and brought in enslaved people, initially from Senegal, and later labourers from Madagascar, Mozambique and India to work on these plantations. Many of those identifying as Chagossians are the descendants of these indentured labourers. The Chagos islands, which were dependencies of Mauritius, came under British sovereignty in 1814. The islands were largely neglected until the cold war. In the 1960s the US and the UK jointly identified Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands, as an ideal location for a military base in the Indian Ocean. In 1965, the UK government detached the Chagos islands from Mauritius and from Seychelles. While some islands were already uninhabited, between 1967 and 1973 the remaining population, around 1,500 inhabitants, was removed and relocated. Some were resettled in Mauritius, some in Seychelles and some in the UK.
Laws were subsequently passed by the UK government to prevent people resettling on the islands. Britain created a new colony from islands formerly part of Seychelles and Mauritius — the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). In 1966 the UK and US concluded the agreement to establish a joint military facility on the BIOT island of Diego Garcia. The agreement was to last for 50 years with an option of a 20-year rollover which was triggered in 2016. The agreement now lasts to 2036. Chagossians in exile have continuously protested for the right to return to Diego Garcia. The UK has indicated that it will cede the islands to Mauritius once they are no longer required for defence purposes. Coincidentally, the Mauritian PM’s India visit is from April 17 to 24, and he will be visiting Gujarat for the Ground-Breaking Ceremony of the WHO-Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar tomorrow. British PM Johnson is also visiting Gujarat, and will be in Ahmedabad on April 21 to meet Indian businesspersons. On April 22, when the UK PM will be in New Delhi to hold talks with PM Modi, the Mauritian PM will be in Delhi too, though en-route from Varanasi to Mumbai to fly back home.