WASHINGTON, United States, Feb 18, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The United States said Tuesday it would hold talks with Mauritius on retaining its military presence on an Indian Ocean archipelago being returned by Britain in a deal earlier denounced by President Donald Trump.

The State Department said it would hold three days of talks next week in the Mauritian capital Port Louis on the strategic base at Diego Garcia.

The talks will discuss "effective implementation of security arrangements for the base to ensure its long-term, secure operation," the State Department said in a statement.

It said it also was also holding discussions with Britain.

"The United States supports the decision of the United Kingdom to proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago," it said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government in May reached an agreement to return the Chagos Islands to Britain's former colony Mauritius and to pay to lease the joint US-UK base for a century.

Britain had kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence from Britain in the 1960s. Britain evicted thousands of people, who have since mounted legal challenges for compensation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio initially welcomed the deal as "historic" but Trump later posted on social media that it was an "act of GREAT STUPIDITY" that showed why the United States should conquer Greenland from ally Denmark.

Trump later backtracked and said he accepted the deal after speaking to Starmer.