New Delhi: Months after India agreed to support Mauritius’s surveillance of its expanded territorial waters around Chagos Archipelago, Maldives, which also claims historical ties to the region, has announced plans to expand the country’s Special Economic Zone to include the disputed maritime area.Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on Wednesday (February 4) withdrew a 2022 letter sent by the previous government to Mauritius that altered Malé’s position on the legal status of the Chagos Archipelago.Earlier, New Delhi’s support for Mauritius – its strategic ally since independence – was seen as a move that deepened India’s strategic involvement in the archipelago.In a statement, the President’s Office said that Muizzu had communicated the decision to the prime minister of Mauritius, withdrawing a letter sent on August 22, 2022 by former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The letter had endorsed a United Nations General Assembly resolution seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965.The decision was announced by Muizzu during his presidential address at the opening of the first session of the twentieth People’s Majlis earlier in the day. Maldivian media reported that the withdrawal letter was signed shortly after the address and is expected to be formally transmitted to Port Louis.According to the President’s Office, the current administration has carried out a review of actions taken by the previous government before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The review concluded that the shift in Maldives’ position midway through the proceedings had an “adverse and detrimental effect” on the country’s interests. Muizzu ordered the establishment of a national enquiry to investigate how the position was altered.The statement said the change in stance under the Solih administration was “sudden and unexplained”, “unreasonable”, and undertaken “without due process”.Muizzu reiterated that the Maldives is geographically closer, more historically connected, and legally better placed than Mauritius to assert sovereignty over the islands, known to Maldivians as Foalhavahi. He cited a 16th century royal decree by a Maldivian Sultan as evidence.During his address to parliament, Muizzu also announced plans to expand Maldives’ Special Economic Zone to include the disputed maritime area, in line with provisions already defined in law. He said amendments to the Maritime Zones of Maldives Act would be submitted to parliament and that a dedicated office would be established to define maritime regions, set baselines, and coordinate matters relating to maritime territory.The Chagos Archipelago, located approximately 500 kilometres south of the Maldives and about 2,200 kilometres from Mauritius, hosts the Diego Garcia military base operated jointly by the United States and United Kingdom.In May 2025, Britain formally handed over sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius under a deal that included a 99-year lease for the base worth over 3 billion pounds. India welcomed that agreement as a milestone achievement and has since expanded its role in the region.During Mauritian prime minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam’s visit in September 2025, New Delhi announced it would assist Mauritius with maritime surveillance of its newly expanded waters around Chagos as part of a $680 million aid package.The maritime boundary between the Maldives and Chagos became contentious after Mauritius filed a case at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). In April 2023, ITLOS divided the overlapping exclusive economic zones, granting the Maldives 47,232 square kilometres and Mauritius 45,331 square kilometres of a total 95,563 square kilometre disputed area.The ruling triggered a political crisis in the Maldives. The opposition, then led by Muizzu’s party, accused the Solih government of treason for changing the country’s neutral stance on Chagbos sovereignty mid-proceedings. Former Attorney General Dr Mohamed Munavvar alleged that India must have influenced the reversal in favour of its close ally Mauritius, a claim the Solih administration denied.Mauritius has been strategically allied with India since independence, with 65 to 70% of its population being of Indian origin.Former President Solih had maintained that his letter to Mauritius concerned decolonisation and self-determination and was unrelated to the ITLOS maritime boundary case.Muizzu won the 2023 presidential election partly on promises to recover the disputed maritime territory, though ITLOS decisions are final and legally binding. His campaign also featured criticism of perceived Indian influence in the Maldives under the Solih government. However, relations with India which were strained in Muizzu’s first year has since improved with Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi even visiting Maldives in 2025