‘No longer a subject for debate, ’ Mauritius responds to Trump’s criticism

Port Louis, Mauritius: The Mauritian government responded Tuesday to US President Donald Trump's criticism over a deal with Britain granting it sovereignty over the strategic Chagos islands, saying the issue should no longer be open to debate.

"The sovereignty of the Republic of Mauritius over the Chagos archipelago is already recognised without ambiguity under international law and should no longer be a subject for debate," said Mauritian Attorney General Gavin Glover.

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Trump, who had endorsed the deal when it was signed in May last year, posted on social media Tuesday that the UK "giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired".

Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on Britain and other European countries for opposing his claims on Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

The Chagos agreement will see Britain hand the archipelago, some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) northeast of Mauritius, to its former colony and pay to lease the US-UK military base for a century.

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Britain insisted the agreement, which is in the final stages of being scrutinised in parliament, would go ahead despite Trump's U-turn.

"Our position hasn't changed," a UK government spokesperson said, hailing the deal's "robust provisions" and highlighting that nations from Australia to Japan had welcomed it.

"This deal secures the operations of the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia for generations," the spokesperson added, referring to the largest of the Chagos islands.