EXCLUSIVE: The UK/US diplomatic deal that gives China strategic foothold in Indian Ocean - yet NO ONE is talking about it. Agreement to hand archipelago over to Beijing-friendly Mauritius will land China in backyard of top US military base Diego Garcia

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The Chagos Islands may be little more than specks in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but they are at the center of a looming diplomatic row over a key American military base and the rise of Chinese power.

Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic have raised fears that the British government's decision to begin negotiations to hand over the islands to Mauritius could allow China the chance to build its own military facility on the archipelago — right under the nose of American forces at Diego Garcia.

The issue is one of the most important strategic locations in the Indian Ocean, from where U.S. B1 and B52 bombers can reach maritime chokepoints, vital sea lanes and even potential Chinese bases everywhere from Djibouti to Pakistan. 

The British government says any deal will protect the U.S. operation at Diego Garcia. 

But British MP Daniel Kawczynski is warning his American counterparts that handing sovereignty to Mauritius - with its deepening economic ties to Beijing - offers no guarantee that China won't soon have its own base on the island chain.  

'If you look at the amount of investment the Chinese have in Mauritius, I would argue that for all intents and purposes they control Mauritius,' he told DailyMail.com.

'They have a policy of hoovering up all of these islands in the South China Sea... the idea the Chinese are not going to take advantage of us giving up these islands is wrong.'

He said he was writing to American colleagues to sound the alarm, and has called a debate at parliament's Westminster Hall next week. 

Rep. Mike Waltz, ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, demanded an immediate review. 

'Since the Biden Administration gave away Bagram - a strategic airbase only a few hundred miles from the Chinese border and our only base situated between Iran, Russia, and China - the base in Diego Garcia is absolutely critical,' he said.

'These reports are very concerning and something the readiness subcommittee should look into.'

Diego Garcia is the biggest island in the Chagos Archipelago. Its position in the center of the Indian Ocean gives it a crucial strategic location and it is the site of a U.S. naval support facility, hosting nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, and staging special operations forces

A B-2 Spirit takes off from Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia during the Iraq War. Negotiations to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius have raised fears that China could try to muscle in on such a strategic location in the middle of the Indian Ocean

Lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic have issued warning. Conservative Member of Parliament Daniel Kawczynski says China is waiting in the wings to build its own base, while Republican Rep. Mike Waltz has called for an urgent review

The Chagos Islands have been uninhabited since the U.K. removed its residents in order to lease a military base to the U.S. That could be about to change 

The fate of the Chagos Islands and their former inhabitants has been a source of diplomatic tension for decades.

Three years before granting independence to Mauritius the British government severed the islands from the rest of the country. 

It then forcibly displaced the archipelago's 2000 residents in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for a military facility that it leases to the U.S.

The population has waged a legal battle to return ever since, while Mauritius has campaigned to be reunited with the islands.

Three years ago, the International Court of Justice, the United Nation's highest court, ruled that the British occupation of the islands was unlawful and that the archipelago was part of Mauritius.

Its ruling was advisory and initially made no change to the status quo. But since then London has come under increasing pressure to set a better example as it accused China of ignoring international law in the South China Sea and elsewhere. 

Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia gives the US an 'unsinkable aircraft carrier' in the Indian Ocean

Warplanes can be seen lined up at the base on Diego Garcia in this Google photo

Diego Garcia is a militarized atoll, just south of the Equator in the Indian Ocean.

As part of the British Indian Ocean Territory it is controlled by London, which has leased a military facility to the U.S. since 1966, when Washington was keen to extend its influence in the Indian Ocean at the height of the Cold War.

Its position - about 2200 miles east of the African coast of Tanzania and 1200 miles west of the southern tip of India - gives its heavy bombers access to a string of key maritime and military targets.

The base is about 2200 miles east of the African coast of Tanzania and 1200 miles west of the southern tip of India 

The 'unsinkable aircraft carrier' has been a vital asset during the Iranian Revolution (when rescue missions used it as a staging post), the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Desert Fox in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. 

It serves as a logistics and support base for naval vessels, warplanes and special forces.

Port facilities to accommodate air carriers were completed in 1985.

And an airfield was built four years later allowing the arrival of B52 Stratofortress bombers and aerial refuelling aircraft.

The atoll also hosts the United States Marine Pre-positioning Squadron Two, made up of seven vessels packed with tanks, armoured personnel carriers, munitions, fuel, spare parts and even a mobile field hospital for rapidly deployment to war zones.

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Displaced Chagos Islanders have fought for years to return home. Most now live in Mauritius or the United Kingdom but won a victory in 2019 the United Nation's highest court ruled that the British occupation of the islands was unlawful and that the archipelago was part of Mauritius

U.S. Strategic Command this week took the unusual step of revealing that the ballistic missile submarine USS West Virginia had stopped in during October as it made a nuclear 'deterrence patrol' of the Indian Ocean

Last month, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced that talks had begun to 'secure an agreement on the basis of international law' to resolve the dispute.

'The UK and Mauritius have reiterated that any agreement between our two countries will ensure the continued effective operation of the joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia, which plays a vital role in regional and global security,' he said. 

Kawczynski said the government's reasoning was 'poppycock' and that no-one had even asked the Chagossians if they wanted to be part of Mauritius.

He is campaigning for the talks to be halted so that former residents and their families can be properly consulted. 

In the meantime, Diego Garcia remains a key U.S. base.

When tensions with Iran ratcheted up two years ago, the Air Force deployed six B-52s to Diego Garcia. And just this week, U.S. Strategic Command revealed that nuclear-powered submarine USS West Virginia had stopped in as it made a 'deterrence patrol' of the Indian Ocean.

'Every operational plan rests on the assumption that nuclear deterrence is holding, and [ballistic missile submarines] like West Virginia are vital to a credible nuclear deterrence for the United States and our Allies," said Adm. Charles Richard, commander of U.S. Strategic Command. 

The U.S. Navy said the USS West Virginia conducted a complete crew exchange in Diego Garcia, highlighting how it could stay on patrol for an extended period of time

Last month Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced that talks had begun to 'secure an agreement on the basis of international law' to resolve the dispute

That all makes it the sort of location that China can only dream of, according to lawmakers sounding the alarm.

'The Chinese will in two minutes flat take control, give Mauritius ... a suitable amount of money for it to be able to develop a Chinese base on these islands,' added Kawczynski.

This year China celebrated 50 years of relations with Mauritius. 

And last year the two signed a free trade agreement, the first of its kind between Beijing and an African nation - following almost a billion dollars in cumulative Chinese investment.

Analysts at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace see China playing an influence game as investments line up with territorial disputes.

'These sovereignty disputes with the West open the door for islands to deepen their relationship with China,' wrote Darshana M. Baruah and Caroline Duckworth 

'While assertive in the South China Sea, China has no territorial disputes in the Indian Ocean region, seeking instead to balance Western influence. Each island involved in a dispute has grown its economic relationship with China in recent years, from free trade agreements to Belt and Road investments.'

A USAF B-1B heavy bomber takes off from Diego Garcia on its way to Afghanistan in 2001

The Mauritius embassy to the U.S. did not respond to requests for comment. 

A British official pointed out that Cleverly told MPs in November that British and American security interests would be central to negotiations with Mauritius.

'This is an issue that we take incredibly seriously,' he told the Foreign Affairs Selection Commitee. 'We are very alive to that, and we will make sure that that is at the heart of the British position on the negotiations that we have in Mauritius.'

The White House National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment, while the U.S. Department of Defense said it would not answer hypothetical questions about the risks to Diego Garcia.

But that does not mean that American officials will not be aware of the acute sensitivities, said Luke Coffey, a senior fellow for national security and defense at the Hudson Institute. 

'Shared access to British military bases is a key part of the Anglo-American Special Relationship,' he said. 

'This is especially true regarding American use of military bases located on British Overseas Territories like Gibraltar, Ascension Island, the Sovereign Base Areas (in Cyprus), and Diego Garcia. 

'Any loss of access to the strategically located airbase at Diego Garcia will be a major concern in Washington DC.'  

And Kawczynski said the British government's statement that any settlement would protect the future of Diego Garcia was unlikely to reassure Washington.

'The British government is peddling us a falsehood that the Americans don't care who is the sovereign body as long as they continue to have their base in Diego Garcia,' he said.

'I don't think that's right. I don't think any American administration would want to have a Chinese naval base within a stone's throw of them in the Indian Ocean.'