The Mauritian government has been engulfed by a row about “excessive concessions” being made to the UK on Sir Keir Starmer’s Chagos Islands deal.
The country’s prime minister last week threatened to pull his party from the coalition that is propping up the government over concerns about the deal.
The Telegraph understands that Paul Bérenger, the deputy prime minister, raised objections to strict conservation belts that would surround Diego Garcia, which has been used as a joint UK-US military base since the 1970s. The belts would restrict access of Mauritian citizens to the base.
He has also expressed concerns to Navin Ramgoolam, the prime minister, about the surveillance of maritime routes surrounding the islands.
Labour was set to hand over the islands to Mauritius by the end of the year but the deal was delayed last week after the threat of defeat in the Lords, where the Government does not have a majority.
The Chagos Islands treaty, signed by Sir Keir in May, will relinquish British sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory and result in the UK paying Mauritius £30bn over 99 years to lease back the crucial military base on Diego Garcia.
The Chagossians were removed from Diego Garcia and the other islands between 1968 and 1973, and relocated to Britain. However, many of them do not want the archipelago to be handed to Mauritius.
Many Chagossians are against the islands being handed to Mauritius – Heathcliff O’Malley
On Nov 3, Mauritius announced the creation of one of the world’s largest marine protected areas around the Chagos archipelago, a plan that was designed to protect biodiversity but also restricts access to Diego Garcia.
The new Chagos Archipelago Marine Protected Area (Campa) spans over 645,000 sq km, dividing the territory into four zones and imposing a blanket ban on commercial fishing in the area.
The strict conservation zone, one of the four belts spread over 23,712 square km surrounding Diego Garcia, would effectively prevent civilian movement near the military base.
Mr Bérenger is reportedly willing to resign over his concerns and accused a “gang of five” with his prime minister’s office as acting behind his back.
“One of Paul Bérenger’s main points of contention concerns this sensitive issue: concessions deemed excessive are being made to the British in the final stages of the archipelago’s sovereignty,” reported Defi Media quoting sources.
A meeting between the two politicians last week cooled tensions but fears remained that Mr Bérenger could pull his party from the coalition, which could cause the government to collapse.
Paul Berenger (left) has raised concerns with Navin Ramgoolam (right) over concessions being made to Britain – Ally Soobye/Reuters
Senior officials admitted that the truce between the two leaders was born out of “necessity”.
Vijay Makhan, a special adviser to the deputy prime minister, denied that the coalition was on the brink of collapse and said the leader had not raised concerns about “excessive concessions” being made to the UK.
He also accused politicians in the UK of trying to upend the agreement. “The party that initiated the negotiations are now desperately trying to scuttle the agreement based on fabricated narratives,” he said.
Gavin Glover, the Mauritian attorney general, said he would discuss security and environmental aspects around the deal with government officials in London on Friday.
“We expect to finalise the ancillary agreements to ensure the implementation of the treaty,” he told The Telegraph.
Talks are expected to focus on maritime security, the creation of the marine protected area, the Chagossian Trust Fund, and even the telephone prefix to be assigned to Diego Garcia.
“The stated objective is to finalise these points by the end of November, before formally drafting them and submitting them for final review,” he added.
