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Britain signed an agreement to give sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
The islands have a strategic U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia.
The U.K. will pay Mauritius £101 million ($136 million) per year to lease the base for at least 99 years.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the base is vital for British security, counterterrorism, and intelligence.
Chagos Islands
The Chagos Islands are located in the Indian Ocean, comprising seven atolls
The northernmost atoll is Peros Banhos, situated about 300 miles from Addu Atoll, the southern tip of the Maldives.
This chain of islands is the southernmost archipelago of the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, a long submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean.
From 1715 to 1810, the Chagos Islands were part of France's Indian Ocean possessions.
Under the Treaty of Paris (1814), France the Chagos Islands to the United Kingdom
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