President Mohamed Muizzu has proposed that US President Donald Trump hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to the south of the Maldives in return for a US military presence on the islands.
Chagos is a British military base. Britain agreed last year to hand over sovereignty to Mauritius. Mauritius claims sovereignty over Chagos because about 2,000 Chagossians were sent to Mauritius to build the military base.
In an interview with the US Newsweek Magazine, Muizzu said the Maldives government would propose to the parliament to maintain the status quo if the Chagos Islands were handed over to the Maldives.
In 2021, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (ITLOS) ruled that the UK does not have sovereignty over the Chagos. At the time, ITLOS also demarcated the Maldives' border to the south.
Some historical documents mention that former Maldivian Sultans included the Chagos Islands under the Maldives.
The UK agreed to give Mauritius sovereignty over the Chagos and to lease the land for the military base for USD 100 million a year. US President Donald Trump recently criticised the deal.
If the Maldives gets sovereignty over Chagos, it will become part of Maldivian territory. The government must get parliament approval for a foreign military presence in Maldivian territory.
But one of Muizzu's biggest pledges is to ensure no foreign presence in any part of Maldivian territory.
