‘Strategic Disaster’: UK Gives Up Islands Holding Secret US Military Base

The United Kingdom agreed on Thursday to give up control of islands that hold a secretive U.S. military base to another country.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer — the country’s new socialist leader — shared a “seminal moment” with Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on Thursday as the two agreed that the U.K. would give up the disputed Chagos Islands to Mauritius, according to a joint statement on Thursday. The U.K. took control of Chagos from Mauritius decades ago, and Mauritius has long asked that the islands be returned to them in a bid to move toward their renewed independence.

The islands contain a key joint U.S.-U.K. military installation used as a hub for naval and air assets, according to the Navy. The base is positioned in the Indo-Pacific, which is of consequential strategic value given that China has become increasingly hostile to other nations in the region.

The deal will safeguard “international security,” U.K. Foreign Minister David Lammy said on Thursday.

The base will remain under the control of the U.S. and U.K. for the next 99 years under the agreement signed on Thursday between Starmer and Jugnauth. President Joe Biden welcomed the deal and expressed his support for the continued operations of the base.

“It is a clear demonstration that through diplomacy and partnership, countries can overcome long-standing historical challenges,” Biden said in a statement