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<p>The United Kingdom remains disappointed that Mauritius took its bilateral dispute
with us over the sovereignty of BIOT (Chagos Archipelago) to the International Court
of Justice (ICJ) for an Advisory Opinion (AO). This is an inappropriate use of the
ICJ Advisory Opinion mechanism and sets a dangerous precedent for other bilateral
disputes. However, an AO is not a legally binding judgment, it is advice provided
to the UN General Assembly at its request. And while the British Government respects
the ICJ and has considered the content of the AO carefully, it does not share the
Court's approach. No international tribunal has ever found UK sovereignty to be in
doubt. We stand by our long-standing commitment to cede sovereignty of the territory
to Mauritius when it is no longer required for defence purposes, but strongly refute
Mauritius' claim that BIOT is part of Mauritius. In the UN General Assembly we have
been clear that any action that potentially compromises the current or future operations
of the joint defence facility on BIOT should be of real concern to all States, given
the important role it plays in regional and global peace and security.</p>
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