Gandhi backs Mauritius in Indian Ocean claim

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said her government backs Mauritian claims to sovereignty over the Chagos island chain, which includes Diego Garcia, site of a US base.

She told the Mauritian Legislative Assembly that India also supported the Mauritian campaign for the demilitarization of the Indian Ocean. In his welcoming speech for Mrs. Gandhi, Mauritian Prime Minister Aneerood Jugnauth called for a balanced reduction of superpower military might in the Indian Ocean to free the seas for commercial traffic only.