Nasheed says UK vote delay gives Maldives chance to reassert Chagos claim
Nasheed said in a post on X that the Maldives had not yet lost the opportunity to pursue what he described as sovereign guardianship of Chagos.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed said on Saturday that the United Kingdom’s decision to postpone a parliamentary vote on a bill to transfer the Chagos Islands to Mauritius provides the Maldives with an opportunity to restate its claim to the territory.
Britain and Mauritius have reached an agreement under which sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago would be transferred to Mauritius, while Britain would retain long-term control of the United States–United Kingdom military base on Diego Garcia under a lease arrangement.
The United Kingdom House of Lords was scheduled to consider legislation to implement the agreement, but the vote has been postponed. A United Nations committee has called for the agreement to be implemented, while political debate on the issue has continued in Britain.
Following the postponement, Nasheed said in a post on X that the Maldives had not yet lost the opportunity to pursue what he described as sovereign guardianship of Chagos.
His remarks follow comments made by President Mohamed Muizzu in an interview with a British newspaper, in which he said the Maldives has a stronger claim to sovereignty over the Chagos Islands than Mauritius on geographical, historical and legal grounds.
President Muizzu said the Maldives has historical links to the islands, which are known in Dhivehi as Foalhavahi and lie south of Maldivian waters. He said the government had conveyed its position to the British government through official correspondence.
He said the details of the discussions could not be disclosed but said the Maldives believed it had a valid claim to sovereignty over the islands.
On 28 April 2024, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruled on the maritime boundary between the Maldives and Mauritius. The tribunal held that delimitation of the maritime area should be based primarily on the coastline of the Chagos Islands.
As a result of the ruling, a significant portion of the disputed maritime area was awarded to the Maldives.
