Small island, big fussphotograph: zelwanka/dreamstime
From The Economist by
And the influence of India, which is building facilities on another Mauritian island
And the influence of India, which is building facilities on another Mauritian island
In a tatty office in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, Olivier Bancoult points to the tricolour flag on the wall.
It is that of the Chagos Islands, the largest of which, Diego Garcia, hosts a British-American base.
Its construction in the early 1970s was preceded by the forcible expulsion of 1,500 Chagossians, including Mr Bancoult, then four years old.
Britain detached the Chagos dependency from the colony of Mauritius, 2,000km away, before Mauritius was granted independence in 1968.
The orange represents sunsets, says Mr Bancoult.
The black is for the dark times faced by Chagossian refugees, some of whom his ngo represents.
And the blue? “That is for the seas—and our future.”
Localization in the Indian Ocean (UKHO nautical raster chart) with the GeoGarage platform
A new future for the Chagos is approaching.
On April 1st a British government spokesman said that Britain was finalising a deal to hand sovereignty to Mauritius, as it was advised to do in 2019 by the International Court of Justice.
The comments suggest that Donald Trump will not try to block an agreement, though some members of his new team criticised the deal back in October, when it was blessed by the outgoing Biden administration.
Assuming a deal is finalised—and Britain and Mauritius go on to sign a treaty—it would underline the growing geopolitical importance of the island state, often known more for its beaches than its bases.
Though small in land mass, Mauritius claims a maritime zone spanning 2.3m square km, roughly the same as the area of Africa’s largest country, Algeria.
This part of the Indian Ocean has important shipping lanes and potential mineral resources.
It is an arena of competition for the West, China and rising powers, especially India, which is building air and naval facilities on Agaléga, a less well-known pair of Mauritian islands.
Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, visited Port Louis in March.
Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, is expected this month; he may try to head off legal challenges over Tromelin Island, a French territory also claimed by Mauritius.
“The powers are competing and we have to take advantage,” says Dhananjay Ramful, Mauritius’s foreign minister.
On April 1st a British government spokesman said that Britain was finalising a deal to hand sovereignty to Mauritius, as it was advised to do in 2019 by the International Court of Justice.
The comments suggest that Donald Trump will not try to block an agreement, though some members of his new team criticised the deal back in October, when it was blessed by the outgoing Biden administration.
Assuming a deal is finalised—and Britain and Mauritius go on to sign a treaty—it would underline the growing geopolitical importance of the island state, often known more for its beaches than its bases.
Though small in land mass, Mauritius claims a maritime zone spanning 2.3m square km, roughly the same as the area of Africa’s largest country, Algeria.
This part of the Indian Ocean has important shipping lanes and potential mineral resources.
It is an arena of competition for the West, China and rising powers, especially India, which is building air and naval facilities on Agaléga, a less well-known pair of Mauritian islands.
Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, visited Port Louis in March.
Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, is expected this month; he may try to head off legal challenges over Tromelin Island, a French territory also claimed by Mauritius.
“The powers are competing and we have to take advantage,” says Dhananjay Ramful, Mauritius’s foreign minister.
Diego Garcia is the location of a UK-US military airstrip
photo : Reuters
In a sign of their continuing importance to America, Washington has recently sent several b-2 stealth bombers to Diego Garcia amid rising tensions with Iran; these can carry bunker-buster bombs which, analysts have suggested, would be used in any strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Since America was never going to agree to Britain ceding total control over the base, the deal announced last year had a fudge large enough to please Willie Wonka.
Mauritius gets sovereignty over the archipelago.
But Britain retains “sovereign rights” over Diego Garcia.
Diego Garcia isalnd (UKHO nautical raster chart) with the GeoGarage platform
Critics of the deal (including The Economist) have argued that what one former American official praises as “delegated sovereignty” still leaves the West vulnerable.
They say that a future government in Port Louis could renege or give China a base on another of the Chagos’s 60-odd islands.
“One base is enough,” insists Mr Ramful.
‘We’re not Djibouti,” adds an official, referring to the small African state that hosts bases for, among others, America, China, France and Japan.
Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the prime minister, hopes such assurances are sufficient.
He has tried to negotiate frontloading payments Britain will make for its rights over Diego Garcia.
Mauritius, an off-shore financial centre, needs to close its fiscal deficit to head off a downgrading of its credit rating.
The focus on the Chagos has taken attention away from Agaléga.
Indian diplomats reject any comparison between the two.
But since India and Mauritius signed a deal in 2015, the construction of a jetty and a long runway has raised questions about whether India is building a base.
Mr Ramgoolam has backtracked from a pledge to make that agreement public.
“It’s nothing like a military base,” says Eshan Juman, an mp representing Agaléga.
“It’s a loading station,” adds the Mauritian official.
Some reckon this is semantic sophistry.
“It fools nobody,” says a former minister.
“You don’t need such a runway for an island of a few hundred people.”
Though some in the Mauritian elite worry about becoming a vassal state without vessels, many believe outsourcing security to India makes practical sense.
Mauritius’s national security adviser has for decades been an Indian.
Its coastguard is equipped by India.
Giving India a foothold in Agaléga, argues another official, makes all the more sense, given that it is becoming more powerful globally.
Indeed, if Mauritius is the main beneficiary of the Chagos deal, then India, given its influence over the island’s foreign policy, is the other.
Mauritius’s founding prime minister is said to have described the island’s foreign policy as being the mistress of many and the wife of none.
These days it seems it has got hitched to India.
Links :
They say that a future government in Port Louis could renege or give China a base on another of the Chagos’s 60-odd islands.
“One base is enough,” insists Mr Ramful.
‘We’re not Djibouti,” adds an official, referring to the small African state that hosts bases for, among others, America, China, France and Japan.
Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the prime minister, hopes such assurances are sufficient.
He has tried to negotiate frontloading payments Britain will make for its rights over Diego Garcia.
Mauritius, an off-shore financial centre, needs to close its fiscal deficit to head off a downgrading of its credit rating.
The focus on the Chagos has taken attention away from Agaléga.
Indian diplomats reject any comparison between the two.
But since India and Mauritius signed a deal in 2015, the construction of a jetty and a long runway has raised questions about whether India is building a base.
Mr Ramgoolam has backtracked from a pledge to make that agreement public.
“It’s nothing like a military base,” says Eshan Juman, an mp representing Agaléga.
“It’s a loading station,” adds the Mauritian official.
Some reckon this is semantic sophistry.
“It fools nobody,” says a former minister.
“You don’t need such a runway for an island of a few hundred people.”
Though some in the Mauritian elite worry about becoming a vassal state without vessels, many believe outsourcing security to India makes practical sense.
Mauritius’s national security adviser has for decades been an Indian.
Its coastguard is equipped by India.
Giving India a foothold in Agaléga, argues another official, makes all the more sense, given that it is becoming more powerful globally.
Indeed, if Mauritius is the main beneficiary of the Chagos deal, then India, given its influence over the island’s foreign policy, is the other.
Mauritius’s founding prime minister is said to have described the island’s foreign policy as being the mistress of many and the wife of none.
These days it seems it has got hitched to India.
Links :
- AP news : UK and Mauritius close in on deal over Chagos Islands after US signals its consent
- BBC : UK finalising Chagos deal with Mauritius, says No 10 / US to have seat at Chagos talks, says Mauritian PM
- The Guardian : Donald Trump signs off UK’s handover of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
- War on the Rocks : Why Britain should scupper the Chagos Islands deal
- GeoGarage blog : Britain to return Chagos Islands to Mauritius ending years of ... / Chagos Islands dispute: UK obliged to end control / The problem with the Chagos Islands / Maldives wins maritime boundary dispute with Mauritius / Fury of Chagos islanders as Britain creates world's largest ...
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