The British island of Diego Garcia, largest island in the Chagos archipelago. Photo: Reuters
(WorldNews Netherlands)

Britain has overseen the region since 1814 and in 1965 detached the Chagos islands from Mauritius, a colony that gained independence three years later, to create the British Indian Ocean Territory In a humiliating blow to Britain, the United Nations voted to seek an opinion from the top UN court on Mauritius` claim that Britain illegally maintains sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, including Diego Garcia, where the United States has a major military base in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean archipelago has been at the centre of a decades-long dispute over Britain`s decision to separate it from Mauritius in 1965 and set up a joint military base with the US on Diego Garcia, the largest of...