British foreign secretary James Cleverly promises to protect ‘unfettered’ US operations at Diego Garcia military base during talks to hand islands to Mauritius as Republicans warn of growing Chinese influence
- The UK says US base at Diego Garcia will be protected in any handover of islands
- London is negotiating to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius
- But Republicans want guarantees to protect base from Chinese encroachment
The British foreign secretary said Wednesday he had assured his U.S. counterpart that any deal to hand an Indian Ocean island chain to Mauritius would ensured that American military operations could continue at the base on Diego Garcia in an ‘unfettered’ way.
London is negotiating the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, allowing the return of islanders removed decades ago as part of a deal to set up the military base.
Although the facility would remain under any deal, Republicans have warned that there would be nothing to prevent China setting up surveillance operations on a neighboring island.
James Cleverly, the British foreign secretary, told DailyMail.com that he had promised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he understood the importance of the base.
‘They know that I understand absolutely how important the operations on Diego Garcia are, and they know that we will absolutely protect them,’ he said just before flying out of the U.S. back to London.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he had assured Antony Blinken, his U.S. counterpart, that he understood the importance of the base at Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia is the biggest island in the Chagos Archipelago. Its position in the center of the Indian Ocean gives it a crucial strategic location and it is the site of a U.S. naval support facility, hosting nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, and staging special operations forces
However, he declined to explain how encroaching Chinese influence would be kept at bay, citing the importance of keeping negotiations private.
The islands have been at the heart of a long running dispute and any deal is designed to reverse a historical wrong.
The U.K. claimed the islands from France in the nineteenth century. But in the 1960s and 1970s it removed the local population to make way for a base on Diego Garcia, the biggest island in the chain.
Former residents have campaigned ever since for the right to return.
Four years ago, the International Court of Justice, the United Nation’s highest court, ruled that British control of the islands was unlawful and that the archipelago was part of Mauritius.
Last year, Cleverly announced that talks had begun on the future of the islands.
The base, which is leased to the U.S., is a crucial staging post for missions in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. And it has played a role in conflicts and emergencies from the Iranian Revolution to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Worries for its future, raised by Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret who chairs the readiness subcommittee of the House Armed Service Committee, center on China’s growing economic ties with Mauritius as it seeks to expand its reach in the Indian Ocean.
Its location makes it ideally suited for operations in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia
Displaced Chagos Islanders have fought for years to return home. Most now live in Mauritius or the United Kingdom but won a victory in 2019 when the United Nations’ highest court ruled that the British occupation of the islands was unlawful
U.S. Strategic Command in November took the unusual step of revealing that the ballistic missile submarine USS West Virginia had stopped in during October as it made a nuclear ‘deterrence patrol’ of the Indian Ocean
He is not alone.
‘The Department of Defense shares your concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s interest in deepening ties with Mauritius and littoral East African countries that form the westernmost border of the Indian Ocean,’ wrote Colin Kahl, under secretary of defense, in a letter shared with DailyMail.com earlier this year.
Cleverly said the future of the base at Diego Garcia was a vital part of the negotiations.
‘I’m not gonna go into ongoing negotiations with Mauritius. but I’ve always believed that go negotiations best discreetly, privately and professionally,’ he said.
‘That is a principle that I have always worked on and it’s worked for me so I’m going to stick with that.
‘But the point I have made – I made this point directly to the United States – is that we absolutely take the ability to operate from Diego Garcia as a absolute key element in this, and will absolutely ensure that we will be able to continue to do that in an unfettered way.’
Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia gives the US an ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’ in the Indian Ocean
Warplanes can be seen lined up at the base on Diego Garcia in this Google photo
Diego Garcia is a militarized atoll, just south of the Equator in the Indian Ocean.
As part of the British Indian Ocean Territory it is controlled by London, which has leased a military facility to the U.S. since 1966, when Washington was keen to extend its influence in the Indian Ocean at the height of the Cold War.
Its position – about 2200 miles east of the African coast of Tanzania and 1200 miles west of the southern tip of India – gives its heavy bombers access to a string of key maritime and military targets.
The base is about 2200 miles east of the African coast of Tanzania and 1200 miles west of the southern tip of India
The ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’ has been a vital asset during the Iranian Revolution (when rescue missions used it as a staging post), the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Desert Fox in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
It serves as a logistics and support base for naval vessels, warplanes and special forces.
Port facilities to accommodate air carriers were completed in 1985.
And an airfield was built four years later allowing the arrival of B52 Stratofortress bombers and aerial refuelling aircraft.
The atoll also hosts the United States Marine Pre-positioning Squadron Two, made up of seven vessels packed with tanks, armoured personnel carriers, munitions, fuel, spare parts and even a mobile field hospital for rapidly deployment to war zones.
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