Will The U.S. Lose Its Base At Diego Garcia?

Sputnik: US May Lose Significant Military Base Located on UK Territory

America may soon lose one of its largest military bases overseas due to the expiration of the lease on Diego Garcia Island in December this year.

A 1966 agreement with the UK allowed the US Defense Ministry to use the Diego Garcia island — the largest of the 60 small islands in the Chagos Atchipelago in the Indian Ocean — for military purposes. The lease runs out in December, although there is an option to extend it for another 20 years.

The islands were reportedly exchanged for an $11 million (£7.65m) discount on buying Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles. After a secretive deal between then British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and then US President Lyndon Johnson, native inhabitants were forcefully removed from the archipelago.

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WNU editor: Talks on renewing the lease have begun .... Deal to send Chagos islanders back to their tropical paradise could be closer after Cameron and Obama discussed US air base lease on Diego Garcia over the weekend (Daily Mail).