• Mauritius has formally and immediately severed diplomatic relations with the Maldives.
• The move follows the Maldives’ decision not to recognize Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.
• The rupture comes as the United Kingdom prepares to transfer the archipelago to Mauritius.

The government of Mauritius announced on February 27 it has officially and immediately severed diplomatic relations with the Maldives, marking a major shift in ties between the two Indian Ocean island nations.

In an official statement, Port Louis said the decision follows the recent stand taken by the Government of the Republic of Maldives, which no longer recognizes Mauritius’s sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago or its territorial integrity. The Maldives has also opposed the agreement between Mauritius and the United Kingdom regarding the islands.

Mauritius said the move reflects its determination to defend its national interests and protect its sovereignty. The decision comes at a sensitive moment, as the United Kingdom prepares to hand over the archipelago to Mauritius — a process that has reignited diplomatic and political tensions over the status of the islands.

In the 1960s, the United Kingdom detached the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius before the country gained independence and expelled the Chagossian population to make way for a military base on Diego Garcia. Since then, Mauritius has challenged the separation as unlawful under the decolonization process. In 2019, the United Nations called on London to end its administration of the territory, but the Maldives voted against that resolution.

After negotiations that began in 2022, a treaty signed on May 22, 2025, formalized the United Kingdom’s recognition of Mauritian sovereignty over the archipelago. Tensions flared again in mid-February when a group of Chagossians opposed to the transfer carried out what Mauritian authorities described as an illegal operation. Arriving from London on February 16 alongside a former British lawmaker, they landed on the islands with the stated aim of establishing what they called a permanent presence.

The episode has once again heightened tensions over the future of the Chagos Islands.

Ingrid Haffiny