Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said on Sunday said that the country had been “upfront, open and honest” with France about its con...
Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said on Sunday said that the country had been “upfront, open and honest” with France about its concerns regarding the now scrapped submarine deal between the two nations, Reuters reported.
On Wednesday, Australia had announced a trilateral pact with the United States and the United Kingdom. Under the deal, Australia will receive a nuclear-powered submarine fleet from the US.
However, the Australian government entered the deal by scrapping a 2016 agreement, under which it had selected French shipbuilder Naval Group to build a new submarine fleet worth $40 billion (over Rs 2.94 lakh crore).
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Australia of “stabbing in the back” and criticised the US for its “unilateral, sudden and unforeseeable decision”.
Over the last few days, the new deal has led to a multinational diplomatic crisis.
In an unprecedented move, French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday recalled the country’s ambassadors to Australia and the US. Diplomatic relations experts cited by Reuters opined that the move could prove to be a jolt in Washington’s efforts to rally European countries against China.
The US-UK-Australia deal focuses on the concerns of these countries about China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. On the other hand, France itself holds overseas territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia in the...
