British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to work with Mauritius and the United States to resolve the disputed status of the Diego Garcia military base (a strategically vital joint US-UK installation in the Indian Ocean that hosts nuclear submarines, bomber aircraft, and guided-missile destroyers). Burnham made the commitment during a phone call with Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam and reiterated it to journalists en route to the UN General Assembly in New York, acknowledging that no agreement has yet been reached. The dispute stems from a deal struck under the previous British government to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after more than two centuries of British control, in exchange for a 99-year lease on Diego Garcia — an arrangement that has stalled in parliament amid strong opposition from US President Donald Trump, who called it a "grave mistake."