Diplomatic relations between the Maldives and Mauritius have entered a new period of strain, following Mauritius’ decision to suspend ties over the Maldives’ rejection of Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu on Monday criticised the move as “immature” and “naïve”, stating that severing diplomatic ties would not alter what he described as the underlying legal and geographical realities surrounding the islands. He maintained that Mauritius does not hold a rightful claim over the archipelago and said the Maldives would not alter its position.
Mauritius’ cabinet decided on Friday to suspend all diplomatic relations with the Maldives after Malé objected to the United Kingdom’s agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius. The UK formally agreed in May 2025 to hand over the territory, ending more than two centuries of British control, while securing a 99-year arrangement to allow continued United States and British military operations at Diego Garcia.
President Muizzu has argued that if the United Kingdom were to transfer sovereignty, it should be to the Maldives rather than Mauritius. He has repeatedly asserted that the Maldives is geographically closer, historically connected, and legally better placed to claim sovereignty over the islands, known locally as Foalhavahi.
The dispute has been shaped by overlapping maritime claims and international legal proceedings. The Maldives’ exclusive economic zone overlaps with waters surrounding the Chagos Archipelago, bringing the matter within the framework of maritime boundary delimitation. In April 2023, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ruled that a 95,563 square kilometre area between the two states should be divided using an equidistance formula. The decision allocated 47,232 square kilometres to the Maldives and 45,331 square kilometres to Mauritius.
Despite the ruling, President Muizzu’s People’s National Congress has maintained that the Maldives is entitled to the entire disputed area. The administration has also formally objected to the UK’s decision to transfer sovereignty to Mauritius, submitting communications to London in November 2024 and January 2026 rejecting the handover.
The current position marks a departure from that of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who had sent a letter in 2022 acknowledging Mauritius’ sovereign authority over the archipelago following its independence from British rule. President Muizzu has since announced the retraction of that correspondence.
The Chagos Archipelago has long been a focal point of international legal and political debate. The United Kingdom separated the islands from Mauritius prior to Mauritian independence, incorporating them into the British Indian Ocean Territory. Thousands of inhabitants were forcibly removed from Diego Garcia to enable the establishment of a US military base. In 2019, the International Court of Justice advised that the UK’s continued administration of the islands was unlawful, a position echoed in subsequent United Nations resolutions.
For years, London resisted calls to transfer sovereignty. The recent agreement with Mauritius represents a reversal of that stance, though it preserves Western strategic interests in Diego Garcia through the long-term lease arrangement.
The Maldives’ intervention in the dispute introduces a further layer of complexity to an already sensitive issue involving decolonisation, maritime rights, and strategic security in the Indian Ocean. The suspension of diplomatic ties by Mauritius signals that the disagreement has moved beyond legal argument and into the realm of bilateral diplomacy.
