President Muizzu Invites UK Prime Minister for Official Talks on Chagos Archipelago

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has extended an invitation to the British Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Andrew Burnham MP, for official talks and engagement on matters concerning the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands. The invitation was conveyed in a formal letter sent to the British Prime Minister today, in which President Muizzu expressed the Maldives’ concerns regarding the United Kingdom’s decision to proceed with the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

In the letter, the President highlighted the shared history and cultural ties between the Maldives and Chagos, alongside the Maldives’ longstanding support for major marine conservation and scientific research expeditions in the region. President Muizzu reaffirmed the Maldives’ commitment to maintaining a reliable and constructive partnership with the United Kingdom on matters relating to Chagos, while safeguarding the legitimate interests of the Maldivian state and its people. Emphasizing the importance of meaningful dialogue between the two nations regarding sovereignty over the archipelago, he expressed hope that renewed engagement and partnership would contribute to stability and security in the Indian Ocean, particularly during a period of increasing global uncertainty.

The sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago—administered by the United Kingdom as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT)—remains a matter of international dispute, with Mauritius asserting its own claim over the islands. In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion calling on the UK to cede control of the archipelago to Mauritius.

Subsequently, in 2023, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) delivered a ruling on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago. The tribunal divided an overlapping Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 92,563 square kilometers, allocating 47,232 square kilometers to the Maldives and 45,331 square kilometers to Mauritius. However, the administration of President Dr Muizzu maintains that this decision compromised Maldivian territory, stating that the government is pursuing legal and diplomatic avenues to appeal the ruling and reclaim the nation's sovereign rights.