Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Exchange of notes constituting an agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America concerning the availability for defence purposes of the British Indian Ocean Territory, London, 30 December 1966 on the legal status of the Chagos Archipelago, including the term that “The Territory shall remain under United Kingdom sovereignty”.

The Agreement between the UK and Mauritius secures the important UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. The Agreement was tested at the highest levels of the United States' security establishment, across multiple agencies, and it has been backed by our key allies and international partners, including the US and all our Five Eyes partners. Talks are ongoing to update the UK-US Exchange of Letters on the operation of the Diego Garcia Base. There are no agreements with the Maldives that would impact the operation of the base.