Overview

• The UK formally transferred sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius under the May 22 agreement, retaining a 99-year lease on the strategic Diego Garcia base for UK-US operations.
• Britain will pay a one-off £3.4 billion handover settlement and £101 million annually to lease Diego Garcia, and the deal establishes a 24-mile buffer zone requiring UK consent for new construction.
• A £40 million trust fund was set up to support displaced Chagossians, but specific rights of return and long-term resettlement plans remain unresolved.
• The treaty responds to the 2019 International Court of Justice advisory opinion deeming UK administration unlawful and follows a UN resolution affirming Mauritius’s claim.
• Critics warn that Mauritius’s close ties with China and Russia could alter the Indian Ocean balance, even as the UK insists the lease preserves vital regional security interests.