Updated By: LatestGKGS Desk
Chagos Island Case in ICJ Disputed Territory, India stand with Mauritius Claim in ICJ
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago Island Case In International Court of Justice (ICJ) Details, India's Supportive role for Mauritius
Mauritius has asked the ICJ for a legal opinion on sovereignty over the archipelago on the grounds they were unlawfully separated and incorporated it into British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Islands ahead of independence. India weighed in on behalf of Mauritius at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Britain paid Mauritius £3 million for the Chagos Islands, which it then reassigned to British Indian Ocean Territory, in 1965. In the 1970s Britain forcefully evicted around 2,000 local residents to make way for a sprawling US military airbase on the largest island, Diego Garcia.
The ICJ will hand down a non-binding advisory opinion after the four-day hearing case of Mauritius about Chagos Island, although the final ruling could take weeks or months to be delivered.
Twenty-two countries and the African Union are to make statements during the four-day hearing. They and their descendants have been campaigning for the right to return home ever since.
Mauritian advocates played a film featuring evicted Chagos islanders saying they wanted to return to the island of their birth to back up their case.
The resolution asking the ICJ to offer a legal opinion was brought by Mauritius and backed by African countries.
