"It completes decolonisation of Mauritius": MEA on UK-Mauritius Chagos archipelago agreement

While addressing a weekly media briefing on Friday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal highlighted India's active participation in United Nations debates and other forums advocating for the decolonisation of various regions across the world.

He said, "It (the UK-Mauritius Chagos archipelago agreement) has been something that has been going on for the last two years or possibly a little more. Our principle position on this particular issue is that this particular understanding completes the decolonisation of policies and when it comes to decolonisation, as an issue, as an international agenda over the years and decades, India has been a very strong voter of it. We participated in all these debates and all the efforts that have been made through the UN and otherwise for the decolonisation of many parts of the world."

He further said that India welcomes the agreement between the UK and Mauritius. "I did not go into history but yes, we welcome this agreement and we are happy that this particular understanding completes the decolonisation of Mauritius. It is something, an event that happened between the UN and Mauritius and we have welcomed it."

Notably, a joint statement was released by the governments of the Republic of Mauritius and the United Kingdom on Thursday on the resolution of stalemate regarding the Chagos Archipelago, including the atoll of Diego Garcia.

United Kingdom announced giving up the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal that would allow people displaced decades ago to return home while the UK retains the use of the British-US military base on Diego Garcia.

The UK said that the operation of Diego Garcia, a strategic military base jointly operated with the United States, was protected by the agreement, which also allows Mauritius to resettle the rest of the islands after its population was displaced.

"The treaty will address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians. Mauritius will now be free to implement a programme of resettlement on the islands of the Chagos Archipelago, other than Diego Garcia, and the UK will capitalise a new trust fund, as well as separately provide other support, for the benefit of Chagossians," the joint statement by UK and Mauritius stated.

Earlier, India had welcomed the agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius and said that this significant understanding completes the decolonisation of Mauritius.

"We welcome the agreement between the United Kingdom and Mauritius on the return of Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago, including Diego Garcia. This significant understanding completes the decolonisation of Mauritius. The resolution of the longstanding Chagos dispute after two years of negotiations, in compliance with international law, is a welcome development," the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement.

The International Court of Justice had previously spoken for the UK to cede the island territory back to Mauritius in 2019.

The UK had controlled the region since 1814 and had detached the Chagos Islands in 1965 from Mauritius so as to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. In the early 1970s, the UK evicted almost 2,000 residents to Mauritius and Seychelles to make way for an airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia, which it had leased to the US in 1966, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)