June 7 (Reuters) - The White House is considering a plan to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, the Telegraph reported on Sunday.
U.S. officials have drawn up a proposal to bypass the U.K. and make their own deal to take control of Diego Garcia, the report said.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The UK Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The plan is among several options being drafted by the White House, in a paper aimed at providing alternatives to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ceding sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, the report said.
“President Trump has been consistent in his position that the United Kingdom should not give away the British Indian Ocean Territory, which includes our joint U.S.-UK military facility on the Diego Garcia atoll,” a U.S. official told Reuters.
“Diego Garcia’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean makes it a vital and indispensable military installation of significant importance to the national security of the United States,” the official said, adding the U.S. remains in regular discussions with Britain to preserve the island’s viability as a regional security platform.
Britain’s government in April put on hold its deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, home to the U.S.-British Diego Garcia air base, which has been criticized by Trump.
Trump said in February the deal was a “big mistake.”
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru and Bo Erickson in Washington; Additional reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham; Editing by Chris Reese)
