According to a report by the 'Politician' news website on September 23, after U.S. President Trump criticized the agreement regarding the future arrangements for the Chagos Islands as 'terrible,' the British government is reviewing this long-overdue agreement.
British Defense Secretary Vince Sturgeon promised on Wednesday that he would work with the Trump administration to reach an agreement regarding the Chagossas Islands. These islands house the Diego Garcia military base, which is of significant strategic importance to the United States.
Strittin said in an interview with the British newspaper The Times that the British government will not ignore Trump's dissatisfaction with the agreement. He warned that "burying one's head in the sand and hoping that problems will disappear on their own" is not a "wise strategy".
Before making the above remarks, Trumph had a meeting with British Prime Minister Bernam. During the meeting, Trumph described the agreement reached by Bernam’s predecessor, Starmer, as “terrible.”
According to the latest version of the plan, Mauritius will gain sovereignty over the Chagoss Archipelago. The archipelago is one of the last remaining British colonies. The plan was suspended in April this year after Trump withdrew his support for it.
The UK and the US will rent back the Diego Garcia military base at a cost of 101 million pounds per year. Critics of the agreement, including some from the UK right-wing political circles, argue that this arrangement may give China a crucial foothold in this strategically important area.
Trump has repeatedly stated that he hopes to obtain permanent and unrestricted access to this military base. He reiterated this on Tuesday, saying that it is “of very great strategic importance” for the United States, especially in the context of ongoing conflicts between the US and Iran.
Stritting said that since taking charge of defense affairs in July this year, he has been looking at the situation from a "completely new perspective". He insisted that Britain's "strategy is not to wait until President Trump's term ends".
He added that working with the US government would be a "difficult and inevitable undertaking requiring substantial effort".
Bernam told reporters on Wednesday that he would ‘work hard’ to find a solution that is acceptable to both the United States and the United Kingdom.
He added, "Ensuring the future of this base is crucial. It's vital for us, and it's clearly also important to America."
I was stating in the meeting that we will strive to find solutions among all parties and put forth effort to do so.
British Deputy Defense Secretary James Cartley said on Wednesday morning: “Bernham shouldn’t have waited for the U.S. President to intervene again before ‘reevaluating’ the Labour’s agreement regarding the transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago.”
This opposition party representative added fuel to the fire: “If Burnham really takes our defense seriously, he should know that this agreement should be completely abandoned. Transferring British sovereign territory to China’s allies, let alone handing over billions of pounds earned by taxpayers, is simply absurd.”
China's Ambassador to Mauritius, Huang Shifang, stated that China supports Mauritius's just claims regarding the Chagos Islands issue. China also expects that Mauritius, along with China on issues related to Taiwan and others, will say no to hegemonic actions.
