Mauritius on Friday severed diplomatic relations with the Maldives in an escalation of a dispute over sovereignty and maritime boundaries linked to the Chagos Archipelago.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Dharambeer Gokhool and was made public on Friday, according to Mauritian authorities. An internal circular sent to state institutions said the Maldives had been formally informed of the move.
There will be no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. It marks the first known instance in recent Maldivian history of a country cutting ties with the island nation.
Mauritius said it decided to sever ties because it does not recognise the Maldives’ claim over the northern Chagos area and rejects the United Kingdom’s agreement to hand sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius.
The development follows steps taken by President Mohamed Muizzu earlier this month to challenge an adverse maritime boundary ruling and assert control over waters in the southern Indian Ocean.
Three weeks ago, the Maldives said it had taken control of the territorial waters of the northern Chagos area, directly challenging a ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Maldives National Defence Force said its Coast Guard vessel Dharumavantha and Air Corps drones had launched a surveillance operation covering 200 nautical miles from the southern baseline beginning Feb 4.
The defence ministry cited constitutional provisions and domestic laws, including the Armed Forces Act and the Maritime Zones Act, as the legal basis for monitoring and protecting maritime zones, including the exclusive economic zone.
During his presidential address at the opening session of Parliament, Muizzu announced he had withdrawn a letter sent by former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to the prime minister of Mauritius concerning sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. He said the government would challenge the ITLOS ruling delimiting the maritime boundary between the Maldives and Mauritius.
Under the tribunal’s decision, the Maldives received about 92,563 square kilometres of disputed maritime area but lost around 45,331 square kilometres from areas previously claimed as part of its exclusive economic zone.
Muizzu said expert advice indicated the previous letter had adversely affected national security and maritime territory. He accused the former administration of legal missteps, an allegation the Solih government has rejected.
The maritime case relied in part on an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which found that sovereignty over Chagos lies with Mauritius and described the United Kingdom’s former administration of the islands as unlawful.
Muizzu has also said his government sent two letters to the British government asserting what he described as a stronger Maldivian claim over Chagos and held a telephone conversation with the British deputy prime minister.
He announced the formation of a commission of inquiry to investigate how the case was handled under the previous administration and said a special government office would be created to manage legal, technical and diplomatic work related to the dispute.