The UK has signed a landmark agreement with Mauritius to secure the future of the strategically critical UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, one of our most significant contributions to the transatlantic defence and security partnership.
The base has played a vital role in defending the UK and its allies for over 50 years. This new deal ensures its continued operation for at least the next century, protecting capabilities essential to UK intelligence and counter-terrorism.
The base plays a key role in operations that support UK forces and our allies across the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia. Its deep-water port, airfield, and advanced communications and surveillance capabilities give the UK and its allies crucial strategic capabilities, which have played a key role in missions to disrupt high-value terrorists, including Islamic State threats to the UK.
The legal necessity of this deal has been recognised by successive governments. The previous government started these negotiations over two years ago, and they held 11 out of the 13 rounds of talks that underpin the deal, that this government has concluded.
Crucially, all Five Eyes partners – the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand – back the agreement, along with India, recognising the critical role Diego Garcia plays in upholding global stability and deterring adversaries.
Defence Secretary, John Healey MP said:
“As the world becomes more dangerous, our military base on Diego Garcia becomes more important. This Treaty secures full operational control, strengthens our UK-US defence partnership and keeps British people safe at home for the next 99 years and beyond. Without this base, our ability to deter terrorists, defend our interests and protect our troops around the world would be at risk.
“This agreement will safeguard our national and economic security for generations to come. Critically, the deal ensures the UK retains full operational control of Diego Garcia, including management of the electromagnetic spectrum satellite used for communications – vital for countering hostile interference.”
