Chagos Islands Dispute: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has reaffirmed India’s support to the island nation of Mauritius on the issue of Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean during his two-day visit to Mauritius. The Chagos Islands have been a bone of contention between London and Port Louis for over 50 years. On Tuesday, Jaishankar said in the Mauritian capital Port Louis that India reaffirms its “constant and continuing” support towards Mauritius’ progress and prosperity. He said that India will continue to support Mauritius on the issue of Chagos in the context of the integrity of nations and the eradication of colonialism.
Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Port Louis for “meaningful talks” with the Mauritian leadership with an aim to further the special bilateral relationship. During this, he held extensive talks with the country’s leadership to strengthen bilateral relations important for the future of the Indian Ocean region. He reaffirmed India’s support on the issue of Britain’s occupation of the Chagos Archipelago, a Mauritian territory. This move has been appreciated by Mauritius.
“Prime Minister, as we look back at our deep and abiding ties, I would like to reassure you again today that India will continue its steadfast support to Mauritius on the Chagos issue in keeping with its core stance on de-colonisation and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations,” Jaishankar said at an event with Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.
What is the Chagos Islands and the dispute
In the Indian Ocean, about 500 km south of Maldives, there is a group of more than 60 islands, which is called Chagos Islands. These 60 small islands together form a group of seven atolls, which is spread over an area of about 2.5 lakh square miles. There are also small sea hills here, which is the southern end of the sea mountain range extending to India’s Lakshadweep.
Mauritius considers this group of islands as its own and claims sovereignty over it, whereas Britain is in possession of it. The dispute has been going on since Britain forcibly removed all the citizens from here in 1967 and leased this group of islands to the United States to make it a military base. Diego Garcia is an important island of this group, on which there is a base station of the American army.
What is America’s interest?
Britain freed Mauritius on 12 March 1968 but refused to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Britain had leased the Chagos Islands to the US in 1967 even before liberating Mauritius and claimed that this group of islands is very important for defense purposes in the Indian Ocean. At that time, Britain had threatened Mauritius that if it did not agree to its demand on Chagos, then it would be difficult to get independence. It is said that the then Prime Minister of Mauritius Shivsagar Ramgoolam was forced to accept their demand.
Later in 1980, Ramgoolam raised the issue in the United Nations General Assembly and demanded the return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Since then, this dispute has been going on between the two countries. However, in 2015, Mauritius raised cases against Britain in the International Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. In this case, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said that London failed to give due respect to the rights of Mauritius. The court also blamed Britain for deliberately creating a marine protected area in the waters around the Chagos Islands. Later in 2019, Mauritius approached the International Court of Justice. The ICJ directed Britain to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius but Britain refused to accept that order, calling it advisory.
What is Britain saying?
Britain has consistently defended its occupation of the Chagos Islands, arguing that Mauritius has never had sovereignty over the archipelago and does not recognise its claim. In January this year, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron ruled out the possibility of resettlement of the former residents of the Chagos Islands. He suggested that it was “not possible” for the Chagos people forcibly displaced by the British government in the 1960s and 1970s to return to the islands. Now that a new government has come to power in Britain, it remains to be seen whether the newly elected Labour Party led by Keir Starmer changes its stance on the islands or sticks to its old stance.
Let us tell you that a 2019 resolution of the United Nations General Assembly also confirmed that the Chagos Archipelago is an integral part of Mauritius. Despite this, Britain and America are adamant. Mauritius, like India, has been a British colony for a long time and this island country has deep historical and cultural ties with India. A large number of Hindus live there, whose roots are connected to India. Supporting Mauritius on this issue can cause irritation to both the UK and the US. Mauritius is a very small island country, with a total area of 2040 square kilometers. The total population here is around 12 lakhs. About half of them are Hindus.
