Chagos Islands: Joe Biden maintains the American position, to the chagrin of Mauritius

Diego Garcia, the main one of the 65 islands of the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

US Department of Defense

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3 min

If there was any hope for a diplomatic solution between Mauritius and the United States on the Chagos Islands, where the Americans have a military base, it is now extinct.

The Biden administration does not recognize Port Louis' land claims on the Chagos Archipelago.

On the contrary, it affirms its full support for London, however blamed by the legal arm of the United Nations.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague had, in February 2019, qualified as illegal the detachment of the Chagos from Mauritius in 1965 by the British.

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With our correspondent in Mauritius,

Abdoollah Earally

Last month, in a diplomatic note sent to Washington, Port Louis hoped for a compromise solution.

But the response from the US State Department has been scathing. 

For Maurice, this statement by Joe Biden marks a worrying development in Washington's discourse on the Chagos issue.

From Madelaine Albright, the highest American personality to have visited Mauritius in December 2000, until very recently, the United States was content to point out that this dispute is a matter between the British and the Mauritians. 

But the Biden administration is taking a further step.

According to the

Washington Post

, which quotes the US State Department, " 

the United States categorically supports the sovereignty of the United Kingdom

 " over the Chagos Archipelago and insists that the Anglo-British arrangement " 

cannot be replicated 

" .

116 nations voted for the handover of the Chagos to Mauritius

Port-Louis hoped that the Biden administration would be more respectful of international laws and institutions.

Especially since after a series of diplomatic and legal actions, 116 nations voted, on May 22, 2019 at the UN, for the return of the Chagos to Mauritius.

Mauritius is not demanding the departure of the Americans from Diego Garcia, the main island of the archipelago, which houses one of their military bases.

It calls for respect for its sovereignty over this territory, but discovers once again that it is the law of the strongest that takes precedence.

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