Agreement with Mauritius boosts Delhi’s bargaining power with USA

By Asad Mirza

India has secured an agreement with the government of Mauritius allowing it to establish a satellite station in the Chagos archipelago, near the controversial Diego Garcia base. According to reports the purpose of the new station, will be to track satellites and “to serve as a strategic asset for monitoring the region,” a formula normally used to describe SIGINT collection sites.

Apparently, India has signed an agreement with the Mauritian government to secure its defence presence on the Chagos Islands. The report does not give a precise location for the new facility, which has probably not yet been fixed, but postulates it will be “near the Diego Garcia US-UK strategic base.” It is not clear how the site wi

See Full Page