Pres. Muizzu: Maldives has the strongest claim over Chagos Islands

Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu states Maldives has the strongest claim over the sovereignty of Chagos Islands.

The President made the remark during an exclusive interview with British media outlet, ‘Express.co.uk’.

In his interview, President Muizzu argued that Maldives is geographically closer, more historically connected, and legally better placed than Mauritius to assert sovereignty. 

He added that the Maldivian government, through official correspondences, have made the British government fully aware of Maldives’ claim over Chagos, and concerns in this trajectory. However, the President detailed that the content of these discussions cannot be disclosed at this time.

“The Maldives has historical connections to the Chagos Islands – known to us as Foalhavahi - which lie south of Maldivian waters. These connections are based on documental evidence, and we believe gives the Maldives a greater claim than any other country,” he stressed.

The President’s interview echoes his remarks during his address to the nation at the Republic Day 2024, in which he also said Maldives has a greater claim over the territory than any other country, given the documental evidence of the historical connections between Maldives and Chagos Islands.

He also slammed the former administration for unlawfully “giving up” a significant area of Maldives’ maritime territory without consultation with the public.

For decades, Mauritius and the United Kingdom have been in a dispute over ownership of the Chagos, after Mauritius claimed the Chagos archipelago as Mauritian territory when Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1968.

UK, which had severed the Chagos Islands from Mauritius before independence, claiming it to be a part of British-Indian Ocean Territory in the Indian Ocean, had forcibly deported over thousands of inhabitants of Diego Garcia, the largest of the 60 small islands in the archipelago, so that they could lease the island to the United States for a military base.

Maldives became involved in the dispute as the country's exclusive economic zone overlaps with that of Chagos.

For the longest time, UK refused to comply with decisions by international bodies urging the handover of Chagos Islands to Mauritius – deeming the British occupation of the islands illegal. This included the 2019 decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest court.

This decision was ignored by the UK on the grounds that it was advisory, whereas ICJ also lacked the jurisdiction enforce their decision.

In 2021, Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruled that the British claim to the archipelago was illegal – another ruling which the UK refused to accept.

In a turn of events, UK agreed to Mauritius regarding handover of Chagos in November 2022, and in 2025, the UK signed a multibillion-dollar deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands. The deal allowed Britain to retain control of the strategically important US-UK air base on Diego Garcia under a 99-year lease.

The maritime boundary dispute between Mauritius and the Maldives was submitted to ITLOS in the wake of the decision in the Mauritius–UK cases. ITLOS applied the equidistance method in its 2023 judgment to divide the 95,563 square kilometers of contested maritime area, awarding 7,232 square kilometers to the Maldives and 45,331 square kilometers to Mauritius.

It is an electoral pledge of the incumbent administration to appeal ITLOS’ decision, which, during its time as the opposition, claimed the Maldives was entitled to the entire 95,563 square kilometers. Accordingly, the President has established a committee to carry out all appeal-related works, which is headed by former Attorney General Mohamed Anil.