Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina arrived in Paris on Monday for discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron on the future of the long-disputed Scattered Islands.
The five tiny islets with a total area of just 43 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean were part of Madagascar when it was a French colony.
They were split off when the island nation gained independence in 1960 and Madagascar wants them back.
France, however, is determined to maintain ownership of the uninhabited but strategic islands which are protected ecological sanctuaries.
However, The trouble is that for Madagascar, they carry symbolic weight and it has long contested their detachment.
United Nations votes in 1979 and 1980 agreed that the islets should be reintegrated into Madagascar.