{"id":110278,"date":"2024-10-04T11:29:36","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T04:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=110278"},"modified":"2024-10-04T11:29:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T04:29:36","slug":"britain-cedes-disputed-islands-to-mauritius-securing-key-u-s-military-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=110278","title":{"rendered":"Britain cedes disputed islands to Mauritius, securing key U.S. military base"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/labour-party-wins-uk-general-election-rcna160335\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Britain<\/a> said Thursday that it would cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/nbc-out\/out-news\/mauritius-top-court-decriminalizes-sex-relations-rcna119130\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mauritius<\/a> in a deal it said secured the future of the UK-U.S. Diego Garcia military base, and which could also pave the way for people displaced decades ago to return home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">President\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2024-election\/biden-struggles-national-conversation-rcna173036\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe Biden<\/a>\u00a0welcomed the deal, saying it would secure the effective operation of Diego Garcia, a strategically important air base in the Indian Ocean, into the next century.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">But critics in Britain said it was a capitulation that played into the hands of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/stabbing-shanghai-kills-3-injures-15-others-police-say-rcna173386\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">China<\/a>, which has close trade ties with Mauritius. One group representing displaced Chagos Islanders expressed anger that they had been shut out of talks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">British Foreign Minister David Lammy said the deal settled the contested sovereignty of the islands, the last British overseas territory in Africa, while ongoing legal challenges had imperiled the long-term future of Diego Garcia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He said the base, whose strategic significance was demonstrated during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts when it acted as a launch pad for long-range bombers, was now guaranteed for at least 99 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cToday\u2019s agreement &#8230; will strengthen our role in safeguarding global security,\u201d Lammy said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Biden echoed that sentiment, saying Diego Garcia played \u201ca vital role in national, regional and global security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cIt enables the United States to support operations that demonstrate our shared commitment to regional stability, provide rapid response to crises, and counter some of the most challenging security threats we face,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Britain, which has controlled the region since 1814, detached the Chagos Islands in 1965 from Mauritius \u2014 a former colony that became independent three years later \u2014 to create the British Indian Ocean Territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In the early 1970s, Britain evicted almost 2,000 residents to Mauritius and the Seychelles to make way for an air base on Diego Garcia, the largest island, which it had leased to the United States in 1966.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A nonbinding resolution in the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 said Britain should\u00a0give up control\u00a0of the archipelago after wrongfully forcing the population to leave.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In 2016, Britain\u2019s Foreign Ministry extended Diego Garcia\u2019s lease until 2036, and declared the expelled islanders would not be allowed to go back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The new agreement said Mauritius would be free to implement a program of resettlement on the islands other than Diego Garcia, with the terms left for Port Louis to decide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cWe were guided by our conviction to complete the decolonization of our republic,\u201d Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said in a televised speech.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Olivier Bancoult, leader of the Mauritius-based Chagos Refugees Group, said it marked a decisive turning point and an official recognition of the injustices suffered by the Chagossians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">But British-based diaspora group Chagossian Voices said it deplored \u201cthe exclusion of the Chagossian community from the negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cChagossians &#8230; remain powerless and voiceless in determining our own future and the future of our homeland,\u201d it said in a statement on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">British Prime Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/uk-general-election-keir-starmer-labour-party-prime-minister-sunak-rcna157473\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Keir Starmer<\/a>, who has said his government would be defined in part by a respect for international law after his Labour Party won power in July, had made\u00a0settling the issue\u00a0a priority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">However, leading figures in Britain\u2019s opposition Conservative Party, which initially launched the talks while in government, criticized the agreement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Conservative security spokesman Tom Tugendhat said the deal undermined Britain\u2019s allies and opened the possibility of China gaining a military foothold in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThis is a dangerous capitulation that will hand our territory to an ally of Beijing,\u201d Robert Jenrick, the favorite to be the next Conservative leader, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RobertJenrick\/status\/1841788361171784066\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Asked about the concerns over China, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: \u201cThe provisions of the agreement do give us assurances that we will be able to maintain the security of our base.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Miller declined to detail the provisions in question.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">David Blagden, associate professor of international security and strategy at Britain\u2019s University of Exeter, said the deal was a \u201cbig win\u201d for Mauritius.<\/p>\n<p class=\"endmark\">\u201cNot only will the UK pay Port Louis for \u2018taking back\u2019 an archipelago it\u2019d never held sovereignty over, but they\u2019ll now be able to extract lots of juicy Chinese aid in exchange for complicating US\/UK use of Diego Garcia,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/blagden_david\/status\/1841797012720644512\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/world\/britain-cedes-disputed-islands-mauritius-securing-key-us-military-base-rcna173981\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Britain said Thursday that it would cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal it said secured the future of the UK-U.S. Diego Garcia military base, and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=110278\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}