President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was inclined to back a deal between Britain and Mauritius over the future of a U.S.-UK military base in the Chagos Islands, in a boost for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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”.

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.

The president said he was "inclined to do along" with it just a day after the Tories urged him to block the agreement.

President Donald Trump, seated beside United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, backed the U.K.’s plan to give up control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. Republicans say this is a critical check on China’s influence in the region.

But some Republicans worry about handover to Mauritius, a close China ally, as archipelago includes US-UK military base Diego Garcia.