UK Reviews Chagos Deal as Payments to Mauritius Pause

Britain is reviewing its agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his opposition, and annual payments linked to the deal are on hold, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said Wednesday. Streeting said the arrangement cannot proceed without U.S. support, leaving its future uncertain as the governments seek a settlement acceptable to the United Kingdom, Mauritius and the United States. Trump called the agreement terrible during a meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Andy Burnham on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Burnham later said Britain would work to find a resolution with its U.S. partners. Streeting said Trump’s latest remarks made clear that Washington’s position on the agreement as currently drafted had not changed, and that the UK would need to work with the U.S. administration on revised terms. Streeting said the UK would not make the annual payments to Mauritius “at this stage.” The sources give differing figures for the deal’s cost, so no settled estimate is clear.