British foreign secretary James Cleverly promises to protect ‘unfettered’ US operations at Diego Garcia military base during talks to hand islands to Mauritius as Republicans warn of growing Chinese influence

Britain’s foreign secretary said on Wednesday he had assured his US counterpart that any deal to hand over an island group in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius would allow US military operations at the base on Diego Garcia to continue in an “unfettered” manner.

London is negotiating the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, allowing islanders removed decades ago to return as part of a deal to set up the military base.

While the facility would remain under any deal, Republicans have warned that nothing is stopping China from mounting surveillance operations on a neighboring island.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told DailyMail.com that he had promised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he recognized the importance of the base.

“They know that I absolutely understand how important the operations on Diego Garcia are, and they know that we will absolutely protect them,” he said just before flying back to London from the US.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said he assured Antony Blinken, his American counterpart, that he understood the importance of the Diego Garcia base

Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago. Its location in the center of the Indian Ocean gives it a critical strategic location and is the site of a US naval support facility, hosting nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, and hosting special operations forces.

However, he declined to explain how encroaching Chinese influence would be kept at bay, citing the importance of keeping negotiations private.

The islands are at the center of a long-running dispute, and each deal aims to undo a historic mistake.

The UK claimed the islands from France in the nineteenth century. But in the 1960s and 1970s, it removed locals to make way for a base on Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain.

Former residents have since campaigned for the right of return.

Four years ago, the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, ruled that British control of the islands was illegal and that the archipelago was part of Mauritius.

Last year, Cleverly announced that talks had begun about the future of the islands.

The base, which is leased to the US, is a critical staging post for missions in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. And it has played a role in conflicts and emergencies from the Iranian Revolution to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Concerns for the future, voiced by Representative Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret who chairs the preparedness subcommittee of the House Armed Service Committee, center on China’s growing economic ties with Mauritius as it seeks to expand its reach in the Indian Ocean.

Its location makes it ideally suited for operations in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia

Displaced islanders of Chagos have fought for years to return home. Most now live in Mauritius or the UK, but won a victory in 2019 when the United Nations Supreme Court ruled that the British occupation of the islands was illegal

US Strategic Command took the unusual step in November to reveal that the ballistic missile submarine USS West Virginia had stopped in October as it made a nuclear ‘deterrent’ patrol in the Indian Ocean

He’s not alone.

“The Department of Defense shares your concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s interest in deepening ties with Mauritius and the East African coastal countries that form the westernmost border of the Indian Ocean,” Colin Kahl, Deputy Defense Secretary, wrote in a letter shared to DailyMail.com earlier this year.

Slim said the future of the Diego Garcia base was an essential part of the negotiations.

“I will not enter into ongoing negotiations with Mauritius. but I have always believed that negotiations are best conducted discreetly, privately and professionally,” he said.

“That’s a principle I’ve always worked on and it’s worked for me, so I’m sticking to that.

“But the point I’ve made — I’ve made this point directly to the United States — is that we absolutely take the ability to operate from Diego Garcia as an absolute key element in this and will absolutely make sure that we can continue to do that in an unfettered manner.”

Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia gives the US an ‘unsinkable aircraft carrier’ in the Indian Ocean

In this Google photo, fighter jets are lined up at the base on Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is a militarized atoll located just south of the equator in the Indian Ocean.

As part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, it is controlled by London, which has leased a military facility to the US since 1966, when Washington was eager to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean at the height of the Cold War.

Its position – approximately 2,200 miles east of Tanzania’s African coast and 1,200 miles west of India’s southern tip – gives its heavy bombers access to a range of important naval and military targets.

The base is about 2200 miles east of the African coast of Tanzania and 1200 miles west of the southern tip of India

The “unsinkable aircraft carrier” has been vital during the Iranian Revolution (when rescue missions used it as a way station), the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Desert Fox in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

It serves as a logistical and support base for naval vessels, fighter jets and special forces.

Port facilities for airlines were completed in 1985.

And four years later, an airfield was built that allowed B52 Stratofortress bombers and aerial refueling planes to arrive.

The atoll also hosts the United States Marine Pre-positioning Squadron Two, consisting of seven ships loaded with tanks, armored personnel carriers, ammunition, fuel, spare parts, and even a mobile field hospital for rapid deployment to war zones.