09 Nov 2024        13:52:22 pm

International Relations

Chagos Islands

Tags : Chagos Islands

Topic: International Treaties

Why in the news?

• U.K. to return Chagos Islands to Mauritius in historic agreement.
• The U.K. and Mauritius have reached a historic political agreement to secure the strategically important U.K.-U.S. military base on Diego Garcia and towards restoring Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos archipelago. A treaty is now being worked out to firm up the agreement, the U.K. announced.

Source: The Hindu 

About Chagos Islands:

• It is an island group located in the central Indian Ocean and is about 1,600 km. south of the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent.
• It is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom that was established on November 8, 1965.
• Its key islands include the Diego Garcia atoll, Danger Island, Egmont Islands, Eagle Islands, Nelsons Island, Peros Banhos atoll. (Diego Garcia island, which houses a strategic US military base). 
• It experiences a tropical marine climate with high temperatures and elevated humidity levels. The island’s climate is heavily moderated by the trade winds which blow over the islands.
• Chagos Island Dispute:
  • It centres around the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which Britain claimed along with Mauritius in 1814.
  • In 1966, Britain leased Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands, to the United States, which was seeking a military base in the region.
  • The Chagossians, who are mostly descendants of African slaves brought to the islands in the 18th century, have since been engaged in a prolonged legal battle for the right to return to their homeland.
  • Mauritius, which gained independence from Britain in 1968, has consistently maintained its claim over the Chagos Islands.
  • In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed the UK\'s right to govern the Chagos Islands and called on its government to withdraw from the archipelago.

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