UK shelves Chagos Islands deal after Trump's criticism

The UK has been forced to shelve its legislation to hand back the Chagos Islands, hosting the joint US-UK Diego Garcia military base, to Mauritius, according to British media reports. 

The move follows repeated criticism from US President Donald Trump, who said Britain was “making a big mistake” by transferring sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius in exchange for continued UK and US use of the base.

The base places US bomber aircraft within 5,300km of Iran, but its use requires UK authorisation.

Diego Garcia has become critical to US power projection across the Middle East and Indo-Pacific, serving as a key forward base for rapid deployment.

US bombers flew directly from Diego Garcia to strike targets in Iraq and Afghanistan during the “war on terror”.