The US will be present at the talks about the future of Chagos Island, which was the subject of a controversial agreement between Mauritius and the UK, said the Mauritic Prime Minister.
Last October, the UK announced that it would hand over the sovereignty of the island, which is officially known as the British Territory of the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius, but that it will hold a 99-year rental over the UK military air base on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
The agreement was reached with the former Mauritic leader of the right -wing Jugnathom, but Navin Ramgoolam, his replacement, was very critical.
Progress was also delayed to enable officials from a team of incoming President Donald Trump to view the details of the agreement.
The Agreement was reached in October – which bidden administration in the UK in UK paid the lease to Mauritius for a military air base in the UK.
However, shortly after the agreement reached, Mauritius chose a new prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who wanted to reopen the negotiations.
In a statement on Instagram on ThursdayPrime Minister Ramgoola’s office said he accepted “the presence of a new administration representative in the United States of America in negotiations to further strengthen the process.”
Ramgoolam also said that it showed that it was open and willing to “find a common country”, adding that he was convinced that there would be “positive resolution”.
He was quoted in a British telegraph newspaper that the White House had asked to have someone in conversations.
Earlier this month, Ramgooolam told the Mauritic MPs that the previous agreement was poorly negotiated by the man he replaced, describing him as a “sale”.
He said that the payments that the UK had agreed to make on the Mauritius have not been proven inflation and should include a larger amount in advance.
He also opposed the clause where the UK could unilaterally extend lease to Diego Garcia for another 40 years.
It is unclear what is exactly an American attitude about the agreement, but last year, before he was in power, State Secretary Marco Rubio said he was a “serious threat”, claiming that it gave the islands to the country aligned with China. Mauritius has a trade agreement with China.
The United Kingdom took control of Chagos Islands, from its then -Colonies Mauritius, in 1965 and continued to move its more than 1,000 people to make a place for Diego Garcia base.
Mauritius, which won independence from the UK in 1968, claimed that the islands were their own and the highest court of the UN, in advisory opinion, ruled that the British administration was “illegal”.
Chagos Islanders – some in Mauritius and Seychelles, but others who live in the UK – do not speak in a single voice about the fate of their homeland.
Some criticized the agreement saying that they did not consult in the negotiations.
