Media reports on Saturday said the United Kingdom is expected to drop its proposal to return the following opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to the BBC, the legislation aimed at transferring the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius was not passed in time during Parliament, and UK government officials do not currently plan to introduce a new bill.
Trump in January lashed out at what he called London’s “great stupidity” over the deal. The islands are home to the key Diego Garcia US-UK military base.
UK officials say they are not fully dropping the agreement, which would transfer sovereignty of the British territory to Mauritius, but they have run out of time to pass the necessary legislation before Parliament is dissolved in the coming weeks.
The Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, are a group of islands in the Indian Ocean that have been under British control since the early 19th century.
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Under a proposed arrangement, the United Kingdom would transfer sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius but continue operating a joint UK–US military base on the largest island, by leasing it back. The UK would pay an average of about £101 million per year to retain use of the base for 99 years.
According to a report by the BBC, citing a government spokesperson, “Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US.”
“Ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority – it is the entire reason for the deal. We continue to believe the agreement is the best way to protect the long-term future of the base, but we have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support. We are continuing to engage with the US and Mauritius.”
The agreement, signed in May 2025 and initially supported by the United States, later faced criticism from Donald Trump in early 2026, when he described it as an “act of total weakness.”
The deal came under further scrutiny in February after Trump posted on Truth Social, urging Keir Starmer not to “give away Diego Garcia,” calling the arrangement “a blight on our great ally.”
Many Chagossians have also opposed the deal, viewing it as a betrayal and preferring that the UK retain sovereignty so they may eventually return to their ancestral islands, BBC reported.
In addition, both the Conservative Party and Reform UK, which had previously strongly criticised the agreement, welcomed the decision to suspend or shelve it.
Vance in Pakistan to hold high-stakes peace talks with Iran
arrived in Pakistan on Saturday for high-level discussions with Iran aimed at securing a lasting peace agreement to end the war in West Asia, which has disrupted global energy markets and caused widespread economic fallout.
He was accompanied by senior U.S. officials, including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and landed in Islamabad shortly after an Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived in the city.
At the Nur Khan airbase, Vance was welcomed by Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, the Iranian and American delegations are expected to hold separate meetings with Pakistan’s Prime Minister before any possible peace talks begin.
The report says this would mark the first high-level contact between Iran and the United States since the war started on February 28, after coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets.
Trump has also warned that American military action could resume if the negotiations fail to produce a peace agreement.
Before departing for , Vance said he was looking forward to the negotiations and hoped that it would be “positive”.
As the US president said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in “good faith”, we’re certainly willing to extend the “open hand”, Vance said.
(With inputs from agencies)
