Diego Garcia: Military Bases
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial arrangements have been made for the continued lease of the Diego Garcia military base; and what estimate he has made of the annual costs of that base.
Answered by Luke Pollard
There is no lease with respect to Diego Garcia. US presence and operations in the British Indian Ocean Territory are governed by a series of international agreements, beginning with a 1966 Exchange of Notes between the US and UK
The direct cost to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for running the UK element of the UK-US military base in the British Indian Ocean Territory in financial year 2023-24 was £3.8 million. This excludes minor costs incurred directly by, for example, visiting units or HQ elements in the UK. Any costs incurred by other government departments cannot be provided by MOD
With regard to the agreement reached between the UK and Mauritius, details of the proposed treaty will come before Parliament for scrutiny in the usual manner following its signature.
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