NEW DELHI: Did you know that the distance between India and Britain is not a lot more than between Delhi and Mumbai?This isn't fake news. The former colonisers of India haven't gone far away, actually — the British Indian Ocean Territory is an archipelago of 55 islands spread over 54,400 sq km in the Indian Ocean. The territory comprises seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago , and has a population of around 4,000 with its own Constitution — it is one UK's 14 overseas territories.It might be British, but they don't lord over it. That population of 4,000 is largely US military personnel, and the law of the land, in reality, is American — and so is the currency, dollar.Why so? The territory was established in 1965 when around 1,500 inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago were forcibly removed, after a deal between the US and UK to establish an American military base at the highest island there — Diego Garcia — with the rest of islands uninhabited.The archipelago, in fact, has been under French and British control at various times in the colonial era . But now, Mauritius is challenging Britain over it at the UN's International Court of Justice. It argues that the archipelago has been part of its territory since at least the 18th century and was unlawfully taken away in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence from Britain.Some experts say it is an example of colonial dispossession , international unlawfulness and willing capitulation to the US — the military base has served the US in its operations in West Asia, as well as providing crucial land to install communication devices (spying).India is backing Mauritius' claim, along with 21 other nations. Only the US, Australia and Israel are expected to support the UK. The ICJ judgement won’t be binding but will, nevertheless, be crucial.