WASHINGTON - British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday they had discussed the "vital" U.S.-UK Indian Ocean air base at Diego Garcia, and Blinken said Washington recognized British sovereignty there.

The air base is on British Indian Ocean Territory in the Chagos Islands that a vote in the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 said should be returned to Mauritius.

Cameron did not give a specific response at a joint news conference with Blinken when asked about a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph this month that said British Defence Minister Grant Shapps wanted Britain to drop plans to hand back the islands.

"On the issue of the vital U.S. air base at Diego Garcia, when foreign secretaries and secretaries of state get together, they often discuss the importance of the assets that we share and use around the world, and that is an important one, and we touched on that this afternoon," Cameron said. REUTERS