Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Article 14, Clause 3 of the UK/Mauritius: Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia [CS Mauritius No.1/2025], under what circumstances a concern relating to the essential security interests of the implementation of the Agreement would be made.

Article 14 of the Treaty sets out the role of the Joint Commission in resolving disputes. It is expected that the majority of security concerns that arise once the Agreement is in force will be resolved via the Joint Commission. As stated in Annex 1, paragraph 10, in the event that the UK has serious concerns that a proposed activity by Mauritius risked conflicting with the obligations in Article 3(2)(b), the UK may raise that concern at the political level for urgent consultations.