ABSTRACT
The Chagos Archipelago, which was until then a part of Mauritius, was separated from the latter and turned into the British Indian Ocean Territories in 1965. The Chagos Archipelago, whose main islands consist of Diego Garcia, the Salomons and Peros Banhos, were spotted by the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century, but the Portuguese did not try to exercise sovereignty over this uninhabited territory. The British government responded positively to the American request to have discussions about the islands in the Indian Ocean, and the Anglo–American talks eventually took place between 25 and 27 February 1964. The British policymakers who were engaged in the Anglo–American negotiations over the Indian Ocean islands were therefore thinking that the establishment of American military facilities would guarantee the maintenance of British influence in one way or another even if a decision was made to withdraw from ‘East of Suez’.
