US, UK pledge close cooperation to maintain Indian Ocean base

US & British – (Web Desk) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump have agreed to collaborate closely to ensure the Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean remains fully operational, the Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday.

This comes after Trump criticized the UK last month for returning the Chagos Islands, which include Diego Garcia, to Mauritius—a long-running diplomatic issue. Trump had previously supported the agreement.

The base was discussed in a telephone conversation between Trump and Starmer that Downing Street reported on late Tuesday.

“The leaders agreed their governments would continue working closely to guarantee the future operation of the base and speak again soon,” the prime minister’s office said.

Under the deal agreed in May last year, Britain will hand back the Chagos islands to Mauritius but keep the Diego Garcia base, jointly run by US and British forces, on a 99-year lease.

Trump lambasted the accord in a social media post last month.

“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 said on January 20.

Kazakhstan’s President lands in Pakistan on Historic Two-Day Visit

Starmer responded that the US leader’s comments were an attempt apply pressure on him at a time when several European countries were resisting US claims to Greenland, a Danish territory.