The Government of the Maldives has stated it has responded to the Maldives-Mauritius border dispute at the Special Chamber of International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
The dispute concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the two countries was sent to the ITLOS by Mauritius due to the overlap of Mauritian territorial waters with the Maldives Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the waters between Addu City and the Chagos Archipelago.
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) stated the dispute emerged after the worsening of bilateral relations between Mauritius and the United Kingdom (UK) years ago. The Chagos Islands had been part of Mauritius since the 18th century until 1965 when the UK split the archipelago from the territory of Mauritius to form British Indian Ocean Territory.
AGO stated the Maldives government has responded to the claims made by Mauritius after it was concluded that ITLOS has the jurisdiction to solve disputes over maritime boundary delimitations. The office stated the decision was made after discussions with the relevant ministries and government institutions. It also stated that such disputes are important to the Maldives, as a country that relies on fishing, and that the government has assembled a team of experts on hydrography and geopolitics to respond to the dispute at the ITLOS.