India on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for Mauritius in the ongoing sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom over the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit to Mauritius, held wide-ranging talks with the country’s leadership to strengthen bilateral ties. During his visit, Jaishankar reiterated India’s steadfast support for Mauritius on the issue of Chagos.
“I would like to again assure you today that on the issue of Chagos, India will continue its consistent support to Mauritius in line with its principal stand on decolonisation and support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations,” Jaishankar stated.
The Chagos Islands, which include the strategically important US airbase of Diego Garcia, have been administered as part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. However, Mauritius has long disputed this arrangement, demanding its rights over the islands. The dispute has been ongoing for decades.
The Chagos dispute centers around the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which Britain claimed along with Mauritius in 1814. In 1966, Britain leased Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, to the United States, which was seeking a military base in the region. This move led to the forced removal of approximately 2,000 Chagossians in the 1960s and 1970s, who were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles, hundreds of miles away.
The Chagossians, mostly descendants of African slaves brought to the islands in the 18th century, have since been engaged in a prolonged legal battle for the right to return to their homeland. Despite several British court rulings in their favor, Britain’s highest court overturned these decisions in 2008, citing security concerns due to the American military presence on Diego Garcia, a critical base during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
Mauritius, which gained independence from Britain in 1968, has consistently maintained its claim over the Chagos Islands. Former Mauritian President Anerood Jugnauth had emphasised that the separation of Chagos from Mauritius was against United Nations resolutions and represented a grave injustice to the country.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed the UK’s right to govern the Chagos Islands and called on the British government to withdraw from the archipelago.
Jaishankar’s reaffirmation of support highlights India’s commitment to decolonisation and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, aligning with international calls for the resolution of the Chagos dispute in favour of Mauritius.