The Prime Minister of Mauritius says he has made a “counter-proposal” to the UK over the Chagos Islands deal.

Britain’s historic deal to hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has been called into question after the country’s new prime minister made a “counter-proposal”.

The British government still plans to hand over control of the chain of more than 60 islands to Mauritius on the condition that the strategic joint British-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island, will remain under British control for at least 99 years. Year.

Mauritian Prime Minister Naveen Ramgoolam, who took office last month, said on Tuesday he was reopening talks because current transaction “It will not produce the benefits that the country expects from such an agreement.”

Ramgoolam told members of the Mauritian parliament that his government “remains willing to reach a deal with the UK” and had submitted a counter-proposal.

British Overseas Territories Secretary Stephen Doughty said on Wednesday he was confident the deal would be finalized and it was “completely understandable” that the new Mauritian government would seek time to review the details.

“I believe we have reached a good and fair deal that is in the interests of both parties,” he told MPs. “It protects bases at an appropriate cost. It’s supported by the entire national security architecture of the United States and India.”

The British opposition Conservative Party accused the government of giving up sovereignty over British territory.

U.S. President Joe Biden hailed the agreement as “historic” and stressed its importance to the future of the U.S. Naval Base in Diego Garcia. However, supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump criticized the agreement.

The base is home to about 2,500 U.S. military personnel and has been described as an “almost indispensable platform” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.

The Chagos Islands have been under British control since 1814. In the 1960s and 1970s, Britain forcibly expelled nearly 2,000 locals to make way for the US military base, which played a pivotal role in US military operations in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the United States also admitted that the base had been used to secretly extradite “terrorist” suspects.

Displaced Chagossians have been fighting in British courts for years for the right to return to their homeland. Under the terms of the new agreement, they and their descendants will be allowed to return to the islands, but they will be excluded from Diego Garcia.

Mauritius is an African country located approximately 2,100 km (1,300 mi) southwest of the Chagos Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Madagascar.