LONDON — Britain said Saturday that it was suspending its plan to give up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, which are home to a strategically important British and American military base, following criticism from President Donald Trump.
An agreement to give Mauritius formal control of the islands, a remote Indian Ocean archipelago that Britain has held since the colonial era, had been in trouble since January, when Trump called the plan an “act of great stupidity.”
Under the deal, reached in 2024, Mauritius would assume sovereignty over the tropical island chain, but Britain would lease the base on its largest island, Diego Garcia, for an initial period of 99 years.
On Saturday, the British government said it was not abandoning the agreement permanently but acknowledged that it could not proceed without Washington’s support.
The developments came at a time of trans-Atlantic tension. Trump, who initially supported the Chagos Islands deal, denounced it at the height of his bid to acquire Greenland from Denmark, which Britain and other NATO allies opposed.
When the Iran war began in late February, Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain refused to let the United States use British air bases to launch attacks on Iran. He later gave permission to use them for defensive strikes, but Trump has continued to criticize Starmer and other European leaders for not taking a more active role in the war.
In its statement Saturday, the British government called the Diego Garcia base a “key strategic military asset for both the U.K. and the U.S.,” saying that ensuring its operational security was “the entire reason for the deal.”
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