Do not let Diego Garcia fall off our security map

This US air-base in the Indian Ocean has been part of US-UK lease talks as London plans to hand the island over to Mauritius. Given our Indo-Pacific stakes, we should hedge our risk

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In any word association test, 'Diego' would cue the name of football legend Maradona. But for elderly Indians, it recalls Diego Garcia, a geopolitical bugbear of the Cold War era, when India wanted the US to withdraw its forces from an air-base on a small island by that name in the Indian Ocean.

About 2,000km south-west of Kanyakumari, it was too close for comfort. As a nuclear power now with a broad US partnership, India no longer sees it as a threat. No wonder it has faded from public memory. Globally, though, it has sprung back into the news. It was part of recent US-UK talks at the White House, with President Donald Trump appearing to nod along with London's plan for its status.

"They're talking about a very long-term, powerful lease, a very strong lease...about 140 years, actually," said Trump, seated beside the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, "It's a long time. I think we'll be inclined to go along with your country." Given today's geopolitical flux, we in India need to track what's underway.