Britain on Thursday said it would give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but under what President Joe Biden called a "historic agreement" will keep a strategic Indian Ocean military base with the United States.

The United Kingdom will transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean to Mauritius. The British government announced this decision on October 3, BBC informs. It is noted that the agreement was reached after years of negotiations and involves the historic transfer of the Chagos Islands from the United Kingdom to Mauritius.

The UK will cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but indigenous people from a tiny island that houses a US military base shrouded in secrecy will not be allowed to return