UK transfers sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius in deal securing Diego Garcia military base

The UK has agreed to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a move that ends decades of dispute over Britain's last African colony. The Chagos Islands, a cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean, have been a British territory since the 1960s, but the UK has been found to have unlawfully separated the islands from Mauritius. The agreement, reached after 13 rounds of negotiations, will see the UK hand over the islands to Mauritius, including the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia, which is used by the US government as a military base. The UK will retain sovereignty of Diego Garcia for an initial period of 99 years, securing the future of the base and its operation. The deal has been welcomed by the Mauritian government, but has been criticized by some in the UK who argue that it puts the security of the base at risk. The Chagos Islands have a complex history, with the first inhabitants being enslaved Africans who were brought to the islands to work on coconut plantations, and later indentured Indians who arrived after their emancipation. The UK's decision to return the islands to Mauritius is seen as a historic move, bringing an end to a long-standing dispute over the territory.