US Chagos talks confirmed amid concerns over China’s expanding naval ambitions

US President Donald Trump’s administration is holding regular high-level discussions with Britain to secure the long-term future of the strategically important Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, a US official has told the South China Morning Post.

The confirmation comes amid reports that the White House is actively considering buying the Chagos Islands – host to a strategically important joint US-British military facility – amid concerns over China’s expanding naval ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.

Britain agreed last year to transfer sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago, including the Diego Garcia base, to Mauritius in an agreement that would allow continued British and American use of the facility.

Without denying a potential purchase plan, the official described Diego Garcia as a “vital and indispensable military installation of significant importance” to US national security, saying “we remain in regular discussions with our British allies as we work together to preserve the viability” of the site as a “regional security platform”.

The official added that Trump had been consistent in his position that Britain should not “give away the British Indian Ocean Territory, which includes our joint US-UK military facility on the Diego Garcia atoll”.

The stance underscores Washington’s focus on retaining control of a strategic military foothold amid intensifying geopolitical competition in the Indian Ocean. Trump’s supporters have described the transfer agreement with Mauritius as a “gift to Beijing”.