Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Mauritian Government on the potential impact of Treaty of Pelindaba on the operation of nuclear weapons on the Diego Garcia military base.

As the hon. Gentleman will recall from me repeatedly saying in the Commons, and again from his time as a Defence Minister, it is longstanding UK policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at any given location. The UK and Mauritius enjoy a strong bilateral relationship, but the Secretary of State has not met with the Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius.