US President Donald Trump has indicated he would be prepared to back Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The agreement includes a plan to lease back the strategically important US-UK military base on Diego Garcia at British taxpayers' expense.

New Delhi has far more influence on Mauritius than may be noticed in Europe. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, then prime minister of Mauritius, at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, Apr. 25, 2022.

Senior politicians in Mauritius have described the £9 billion Britain is expected to pay to hand over the Chagos Islands as “reparations” and a “fair” price. In an interview with The Telegraph, Georges Pierre Lesjongard, the leader of the opposition, said the money “forms part of the decolonisation process”.