India has long supported Mauritius' claims over Chagos. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi views Mauritius sovereignty over Chagos as positive for New Delhi.
Days after US President Donald Trump expressed support for an agreement between Mauritius and Britain about the future of a US-British military base, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Mauritius on Tuesday for discussions on strengthening strategic ties, reports Reuters.
At the nation's national holiday, Modi will be the main guest and speak with Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the prime minister of Mauritius, who took office again for a third term in 2024.
Regarding the future of a US-British station in the Chagos Archipelago, a collection of seven atolls with more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, Trump stated last month that he would back an agreement between Mauritius and Britain.
Since the 1970s, Diego Garcia, the archipelago's main island, has served as a combined British and American military installation.
The resolution of the Chagos sovereignty dispute, according to Indian officials arranging Modi's visit to the island nation, is good news for New Delhi, which has traditionally supported Mauritius' claims to the islands and more recently backed America's presence in the Indian Ocean to counter China's influence.
India's foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, told reporters in New Delhi that "there will be an opportunity perhaps for the Mauritius side to update us on any issues that might still be outstanding... we continue to support Mauritius in its efforts to reach a mutually satisfactory and mutually beneficial deal" during the (Modi's) visit.
London kept control of the Chagos and forcefully uprooted up to 2,000 inhabitants to make room for the Diego Garcia military installation, which it had leased to the United States in 1966, even after Mauritius gained independence in 1968.
Retaining the US presence on Diego Garcia as a check on China is beneficial for India, according to Samuel Bashfield, an Indo-Pacific security expert at the Australia India Institute.
India assisted Mauritius in establishing air and maritime connections on the isolated Agalega Islands as part of its efforts to increase its strategic presence in the Indian Ocean.
"Diego Garcia could be a useful runway for Indian surveillance aircraft in the Indian Ocean to use periodically," Bashfield said.
According to a source closely associated with Prime Minister Ramgoolam's office, "Mauritius sees India and the US sharing the same interest of containing the Chinese influence within the region."
In recent years, China has spent millions of dollars constructing highways and seaports in nations ranging from Sri Lanka to the Maldives.
