PORT LOUIS, June 8 - The government of Mauritius said on Monday it has not received any formal proposal from the United States concerning the Chagos Archipelago or the Diego Garcia military base, responding to media reports that the White House was weighing options that could include purchasing the islands.
In an official statement, the Mauritian authorities said they had taken note of press coverage but stressed that, as of the statement date, no direct or indirect approach had been made by the US administration about a separate agreement involving Diego Garcia or the wider Chagos islands. The statement reaffirmed the country's long-standing position that sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is non-negotiable.
The comment from Port Louis followed a report in the Telegraph that the White House had drafted a paper listing several options, one of which reportedly involved buying the islands from Mauritius. That paper was said to be intended as a set of alternatives to the prospect of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer transferring sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago back to Mauritius.
Britain earlier in the year placed on hold a plan to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands. The islands are home to the joint US-British Diego Garcia air base, a facility that drew criticism from US President Donald Trump, who in February described the agreement to transfer sovereignty as a "big mistake." The UK decision to pause the handover came in April.
The history of the islands includes the forcible removal of up to 2,000 indigenous Chagossians in the late 1960s and 1970s to clear the way for the establishment of the military base on the Diego Garcia atoll. Despite that history, the UK reached an agreement last year to return sovereignty to Mauritius while providing payments of 101 million pounds per year to preserve the installation. The published exchange rate in the original report was $1 = 0.7500 pounds.
Mauritius' clear statement that it has not been contacted leaves the status of any US proposals uncertain. The government reiterated its unchanging stance that sovereignty of the archipelago is not open for negotiation.
Context and next steps
The situation presents multiple diplomatic questions - whether further approaches by third parties will occur, how Britain and the United States will proceed with managing the Diego Garcia installation during the hold on ceding sovereignty, and how the position of Mauritius will shape any future discussions. The Mauritian statement makes clear that any resolution will need to respect its declared, firm claim to sovereignty.