The US will participate in discussions about the Chagos Islands' future, which has been at the center of a contentious agreement between Mauritius and the UK, the Mauritian prime minister has stated.
Last October, the United Kingdom announced it would transfer control of the islands, officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, to Mauritius, but would retain a 99-year leasehold over the UK-US military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
An agreement was reached with former Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, but his successor Navin Ramgoolam has been very vocal in his criticism.
The progress on the deal has been put on hold so that officials from President-elect Donald Trump's team can review the details of the agreement.
The agreement reached in October - which had been approved by the Biden administration - involves the UK making lease payments to Mauritius for the UK-US military airbase.
However, soon after the agreement was concluded, Mauritius elected a new prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who wanted to renegotiate the terms.
Prime Minister Ramgoolam's office stated that he has accepted "the presence of a representative from the new administration in the United States of America in the negotiations so as to further strengthen the process".
Ramgoolam also stated that this demonstrated his willingness to "find common ground", and expressed confidence that there would be a "positive resolution".
He was quoted in the UK's Telegraph newspaper as stating that the White House had requested that they have someone present at the talks.
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Earlier this month, Ramgoolam told Mauritian lawmakers that the previous agreement had been poorly negotiated by the person he replaced, describing it as a "sell-out".
He stated that the payments the UK had agreed to make to Mauritius were not indexed for inflation and should include a larger initial contribution.
He also expressed opposition to a provision that would allow the UK to unilaterally extend the lease on Diego Garcia by an additional 40 years.
It is unclear what the US stance on the deal is exactly, but last year, prior to his inauguration, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that it posed a "serious threat", arguing that it grants the islands to a country aligned with China. Mauritius has a trade agreement with China.
The United Kingdom assumed control of the Chagos Islands from its then colony, Mauritius, in 1965, and subsequently forcibly removed its population of over 1,000 individuals to make room for the Diego Garcia base.
Mauritius, which gained independence from the UK in 1968, has maintained that the islands are its own, and the UN's highest court has ruled, in an advisory opinion, that the UK's administration of the territory is "unlawful".
Some Chagos islanders, who reside in Mauritius and the Seychelles, while others live in the UK, do not share a unified stance on the future of their ancestral homeland.
Certain individuals have expressed criticism, stating that they were not involved in the negotiations.
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