Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has written to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, asking him to reopen talks over the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands rather than handing over the islands to Mauritius. In a statement released on Tuesday by the Maldives’ presidential office, Muizzu emphasised “the importance of meaningful dialogue between the UK and the Maldives on matters concerning the sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago”. The Maldives government maintains that its own claim to the Chagos Islands is backed by historical ties and geographical proximity, being about 500km (310 miles) away while Mauritius is more than four times that distance. These islands are home to the key UK-US military base on the island of Diego Garcia.
It is the largest island in the archipelago, a strategic location in the middle of the Indian Ocean between Asia and Africa, and home to a military base that the UK leases to the US in a 99-year deal. In his letter, Muizzu “expressed the Maldives’ concerns regarding the UK’s decision to proceed with the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius”. Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, had finalised a deal in May 2025 to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The multibillion-dollar agreement would allow the UK to maintain control of the strategically important US-UK airbase on Diego Garcia.
However, in his latest letter, Muizzu said he was “deeply disappointed” that the UK did not consult the Maldives when Starmer agreed to cede sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius, and urged Burnham to “rectify this oversight by your predecessor”. Muizzu went on to highlight “the shared history and cultural ties between the Maldives and Chagos, as well as the Maldives’ longstanding support for major marine conservation and scientific research expeditions in the region”. Last April, the UK set aside Starmer’s bill that would return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius due to a lack of support from United States President Donald Trump, as Mauritius promised to “spare no effort” to reclaim the archipelago. A spokesperson of the UK’s Foreign Office was quoted on Tuesday by the Press Association news agency as saying that “the question of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is a matter for the UK and Mauritius, which is why the previous government launched negotiations with Mauritius on the issue in 2022, rather than with the Maldives”.
