Mauritius PM orders special cabinet meeting as Starmer rushes to sign Chagos deal before Trump inauguration

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The prime minister of Mauritius has ordered a special cabinet meeting as Keir Starmer’s controversial deal on relinquishing control of the Chagos Islands nears completion.

A race appears to be on to have a deal signed before Monday when Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

The president-elect has made it clear that he does not agree with the Biden administration over the handover of the British Indian Ocean colony and would seek to block or veto it once he is in office.

Reports from Mauritius suggest that the deal “is almost done”, although one senior government source there told The Independent that he was “startled” by suggestions it was to be signed in the next few days.

However, another source in the Mauritian government told The Daily Telegraph: “We intend to agree before January 20.

“The PM has decided to discuss it in the cabinet on Wednesday and all the ministers are on the same page, supporting prime minister [Navin] Ramgoolam on the agreement. The deal will be concluded this week.

“We understand Keir Starmer’s government is facing immense internal pressure, but we will have historic news this week for the people of both countries. It will be in the interests of both the nations.”

The deal comes after three years of negotiations following an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that the islands belonged to Mauritius because it used to be the colonial administrative centre for the islands.

However, the last Tory foreign secretary Lord David Cameron shelved the talks and critics have pointed out that the ICJ ruling status is only advisory.

Foreign secretary David Lammy and Sir Keir have argued that they had no choice to do the deal which they have described as “good” and secures the use of the crucial Diego Garcia base for at least 99 years.

However, Trump’s advisers and critics of the deal in the UK are concerned about the status of the crucial base, a potential block on nuclear weapons being taken to the island and the possibility that Mauritius could lease a nearby island to China.

But the real problems with getting the dea over the line came after the change of government in Mauritius last year with new prime minister Navin Ramgoolam saying the deal was “not good enough”.

Reports have suggested that the UK has resolved the disagreement bypromising to front load payments for the use of Diego Garcia.