Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Friday for "completing our decolonisation," just a day after the UK government announced it would hand over sovereignty of the remote Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to the island nation. Turn to X, Jugnauth expressed gratitude by writing, "Mauritius thanks the African Union @AfricanUnion, the Government of India @narendramodi and all friendly countries which have supported us in our fight for completing our decolonisation."
The UK announced Thursday a "historic" agreement: Britain will cede sovereignty of the far-flung Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but keep for itself the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. The British Indian Ocean Territory status, or BIOT, applied to the disputed archipelago comprising nearly 60 islands, has long been a matter of controversy, with talks over its future starting under the previous Conservative Party government in 2022.
Less than a minute after the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed his Mauritian counterpart Jugnauth, he welcomed political agreement achieved between the UK and Mauritius regarding exercising sovereignty over Chagos Archipelago after two years of negotiations.
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