President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was inclined to back a deal between Britain and Mauritius over the future of a U.S.-UK military base in the Chagos Islands, in a boost for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

New Delhi has far more influence on Mauritius than may be noticed in Europe. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, then prime minister of Mauritius, at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, Apr. 25, 2022.

US President Donald Trump has indicated he would be prepared to back Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The agreement includes a plan to lease back the strategically important US-UK military base on Diego Garcia at British taxpayers' expense.

Senior politicians in Mauritius have described the £9 billion Britain is expected to pay to hand over the Chagos Islands as “reparations” and a “fair” price. In an interview with The Telegraph, Georges Pierre Lesjongard, the leader of the opposition, said the money “forms part of the decolonisation process”.

U.S. president suggested he was “inclined to go along” with the deal which hands the archipelago to Mauritius.

A Reform UK MP erupted at Donald Trump after he appeared to back Sir Keir Starmer's deal to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Rupert Lowe warned the agreement is "rotten to the core" and added that the US President was "wrong" on the issue.