The 2026 Chagos Sovereignty Accord: A New Chapter in Indian Ocean Decolonization
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The UK and Mauritius have finalized a historic treaty for the phased transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. This agreement resolves a decades-long colonial dispute while maintaining the strategic military base at Diego Garcia under a 99-year lease.
The formalization of the 2026 Chagos Sovereignty Accord marks a watershed moment in the history of decolonization and international law. The treaty, signed between the United Kingdom and Mauritius, provides for the phased transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, effectively ending more than half a century of British colonial administration in the Indian Ocean.
The dispute dates back to 1965, when the UK excised the Chagos Islands from Mauritius—then a British colony—to create the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). This was followed by the forced displacement of the local Chagossian population to make way for a strategic military base on Diego Garcia, leased to the United States. For decades, Mauritius challenged this excision, gaining significant momentum after a 2019 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and a 2021 ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), both of which declared the UK's occupation illegal.
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