Lock the White House Watch Newsletter for free
Your Guide to Washington and the World’s 2024 US Election Means
Keir Starmer ir attempts to sell his controversial Chagos Islands deal to the US president next week to President Donald Trump over a conflict over the basis of a deal affecting Diego Garcia’s US-uk military base. Masu.
British officials argued that criticism of the deal was based on “wild speculation,” and that there are multiple national security grounds for Britain to give the Chagos Islands sovereignty to Mauritius. It’s.
However, the security justification of transactions affecting the UK’s Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT) was criticized this week in a report on the policy exchange, a central right think tank, and when the Prime Minister and his team arrived, It highlights the risk of tense discussion in Washington.
The White House said this month that it will continue to consider the UK government agreement with Mauritius and its potential impact on the naval support facility Diego Garcia.
Jim Lisch, Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Trump’s ally, announced this week that the deal would “dangerously” to Beijing, as it would allow China’s influence to grow in the region. He said it represents “subord.”
Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell held talks with US counterpart Mike Waltz this month on the Chagos deal, with priority allies hoping the Prime Minister will discuss the issue with Trump. He said he was there.
Prior to the visit, British officials argued that what the UK and Mauritius deal involved with leases of Diego Garcia for 99 years was based on a “safe scaffolding.”
The UK claims it will question the future operation of Diego Garcia’s air bases and port facilities.
Downing Street said: “Legal and security advice makes it very clear that without a transaction, the operation of the base would be at risk.” Under the plan, the UK has given up on its sovereignty over Chagos over Mauritius.
British officials said people were “fixed” in the 2019 International Court of Justice ruling, which said British sovereignty over the island should end as soon as possible.
They added that other issues could arise, such as the possibility of being able to refuse to grant “overflight” rights for aircraft that supply strategically important UK US bases in the Indian Ocean. Ta.
A priority spokesman also argued that “the electromagnetic spectrum of Diego Garcia Base cannot be continued without a transaction,” which could threaten safe communication.
“This means that the UK and the US currently have unique access and that they lose access without legal certainty than base (IT),” the spokesman added. .
Both claims state that even civilian aircraft that have introduced civilian planes flying to Diego Garcia are not within the scope of the United Nations organisation, the International Civil Aviation Organization, as long as they are used for military purposes. It was rejected in the book.
“In and out of bases are excluded from ICAO’s scope as the organization handles civil aviation,” the report states.
The report argued that concerns about secure communications on Downing Street were “realistically unfounded” and that it could not be affected by a ruling by another UN agency, the International Telecommunications Union.
“The ITU has no power to prevent the UK and the US from using radio spectra related to BIOT and has no mechanism to implement that decision,” he said.
Former conservative security minister Tom Tugendat said, “It is a time in the past that governments come to the senses, defend the UK’s important strategic interests and remember their obligation to leave the deal.”