The US president earlier called the UK’s plan to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius “an act of great stupidity” The US is weighing a plan to purchase the Chagos Islands directly from Mauritius in a bid to sideline the UK over the future of a crucial military base in the Indian Ocean, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The Chagos Islands are home to Diego Garcia, a joint UK-US military base regarded as one of the most important American installations outside the continental US. The