Britain's government insisted Thursday that it must hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius to secure continued access to satellite communications at a key US-UK military base.The Labour administration is facing domestic political criticism for announcing in October that it would return the isles to Britain's former colony and pay to lease the facility on Diego Garcia,

If Britain wants to remain a reliable partner in our security alliance, it must be willing to defend its sovereignty. As much as President Trump uses unpredictability as a diplomatic tool, I can predict one thing for sure: there is no way he will allow Britain to give up its sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.

Britain struck a deal in October to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius - a former colony that became independent in 1968 - while retaining control under a 99-year lease of the military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago.