Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Article 2(3)(g) of the document entitled UK/Mauritius: Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia (CS Mauritius No.1/2025), what steps his Department is taking to ensure that military operations in Diego Garcia as defined in Article 19 of the Agreement are not impeded by compliance with the environmental laws of the Government of Mauritius.

The United Kingdom is not bound by Mauritian environmental law. Under Article 5, the UK will apply applicable international environmental law with due regard to applicable Mauritian environmental laws; this reflects the long-standing Defence policy of applying both our own and our host nations’ environmental standards so far as it is reasonably practicable.