AG declines to comment on planned probe on MDP administration’s alleged mishandling of Chagos dispute

Attorney General Ahmed Usham declined to provide a clear answer on Wednesday, when asked about the planned inquiry into former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration’s handling of the dispute over Chagos Islands.

In May 2025, the UK officially agreed to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, ending over two centuries of British rule, in exchange for allowing the United States and United Kingdom to continue operating the strategically important Diego Garcia military base for the next 99 years.

But the UK decided in April to shelve the plan after opposition from US President Donald Trump.

The plan to hand over Chagos to Mauritius is opposed by President Muizzu’s administration, which asserts that the Maldives has historical claims to the archipelago dating back centuries, and is also geographically closer to the islands than Mauritius.

Maldives became involved in the dispute as the country's exclusive economic zone overlaps with that of Chagos.

In April 2023, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) concluded that the 95,563 square kilometer area between Mauritius and Maldives would be divided between the two using the equidistance formula.

The ruling granted the Maldives 47,232 square kilometers, while awarding 45,331 square kilometers to Mauritius.

However, President Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) has long asserted that the Maldives is entitled to the entire 95,563 square kilometers.

President Muizzu maintains that the previous administration had deliberately surrendering part of the Maldives’ maritime territory. Reclaiming it had been a key pledge he made during his 2023 presidential campaign.

Upon assuming office, President Muizzu directed Usham to engage in efforts to recover the maritime territory.

Delivering his annual address at the Parliament on February 5, President Muizzu said that committee that looked into the case shared its report with him on December 22.

At a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Usham said the cabinet had made “certain decisions” based on the report.

“We are currently in the process of assigning the task to some international lawyers and experts in order to follow though with the decisions made by the cabinet,” he said.

Usham said he expects to be able to share more details within the next two weeks or so.

During his February 5 address, President Muizzu had also announced plans to establish a presidential commission to conduct an inquiry into the previous administration’s handling of the Chagos dispute.

But Usham declined to comment when questioned regarding this.

“That it will be investigated…. I am unable to answer this question. I believe the President is working on it,” he said.

President Muizzu has also decided to retract the letter sent by Solih to the then-Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, acknowledging Mauritius’ sovereign authority over the Chagos archipelago following the country’s independence from British colonial rule.

Solih’s letter was sent on August 22, 2022, ahead of a vote on United Nations General Assembly resolution entitled ‘Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965.’

In the letter, Solih confirmed that Maldives would vote ‘yes’ on the resolution, in support of decolonization and the right to self-determination.

Following controversy over the letter, Solih had repeatedly insisted that the letter expressed Maldives’ recognition of Mauritius’ sovereign authority over Chagos archipelago, and that it bore no relation to the legal position taken by Maldives at the ITLOS in the territorial dispute with Mauritius.

Mauritius decided to suspend all political relations with the Maldives in February over its stance on Chagos.

A month later, the Maldivian government announced it was pursuing a formal submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its objection to the Chagos deal.