Located in the Indian Ocean, the Chagos Archipelago is at the center of a dispute which combines colonial heritage, international law, military strategy and geopolitics. While London had formally committed last year to recognizing the sovereignty of Mauritius over this territory, it has just made an unexpected about-face under pressure from the United States.
Following information relayed in major London dailies, the Mauritius authorities denied having received proposals from the Trump administration concerning the Chagos Islands. It was the Telegraph newspaper which indicated that the White House would study different options to secure the future of the archipelago.
The Chagos Archipelago is a group of 55 islands and atolls located in the Indian Ocean, nearly 500 kilometers south of the Maldives and more than 2,000 kilometers from the African coast. Little known to the general public, this territory occupies a strategic position at the crossroads of maritime routes linking Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
To understand the current tensions around the archipelago, we must go back to the 1960s. In 1965, three years before the independence of Mauritius, the United Kingdom detached Chagos from Mauritian territory to create the British Indian Ocean Territory. The following year, London concluded an agreement with Washington to allow the installation of an American military base on Diego Garcia, the main island, which houses strategic bombers of the American Air Force including the famous B52s.
At the end of the 1960s, up to 2,000 inhabitants were expelled from the archipelago to allow the development of this infrastructure. Since then, Diego Garcia has become one of America’s strategic overseas bases. The base was notably used during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its location also makes it possible to monitor a vast area covering the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and part of East Africa.
This strategic importance explains why several actors have sometimes divergent interests in the matter. Mauritius claims sovereignty over the archipelago while the United Kingdom seeks to preserve military cooperation with the United States. Washington wants to guarantee access to Diego Garcia, while the Chagossians are demanding recognition of their rights and the possibility of returning to their lands of origin.
The dispute seemed close to an outcome. After several years of negotiations, the United Kingdom and Mauritius signed an agreement in May 2025 providing for the recognition of Mauritian sovereignty over Chagos. In return, London obtained a 99-year lease on Diego Garcia for an annual payment of approximately $134 million to Mauritius. At the time, the agreement was welcomed by the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, who considered in particular that it made it possible to ensure “long-term, stable, and efficient exploitation.” » infrastructure.
A few months later, however, the context changed. In January 2026, Donald Trump denounced what he described as an act of “great stupidity” and “total weakness”, believing that the United Kingdom was abandoning a strategic territory. Last April, London announced that it was suspending the implementation of the agreement, explaining that it wanted to continue discussions with Washington.
The latest development comes from the Telegraph, which indicated on June 7 that the American administration was studying several alternative scenarios, including a possible direct agreement with Mauritius concerning the future of the territory. Port-Louis quickly reacted by indicating that it had not received any American proposal. “Mauritius’ position remains unchanged. Its sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is not negotiable,” the government said in a statement.
Mauritius believes that the detachment of Chagos in 1965 was carried out in violation of international law and that its decolonization process remained unfinished. This position has gradually gained ground on the international scene.
In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the United Kingdom should end its administration of the archipelago.
