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Aukus: France drops Australia as key Indo-Pacific partner after sub snub
- A decision by Canberra to abandon a multibillion-dollar submarine contract with France was viewed by Macron as a betrayal, and sparked a diplomatic row
- After re-evaluating the strategic relationship, France will now ‘pursue bilateral cooperation with Australia on case-by-case basis’
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France removed Australia from its list of key partners in the Indo-Pacific region as tensions between the two countries linger five months after the Aukus submarine debacle.
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A decision by the government in Canberra to abandon a multibillion-dollar submarine contract with France in favour of American technology and a new security pact with the United States and Britain was viewed by President Emmanuel Macron as a betrayal, and sparked a diplomatic row.
The shift was announced in September without “prior consultation or warning” and “led to a re-evaluation of the past strategic partnership”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris said in the latest version of its official “France’s Indo-Pacific strategy” document.
“France will pursue bilateral cooperation with Australia on case-by-case basis,” it said in the document, which was handed out during a one-day Indo-Pacific summit in Paris on Tuesday.
France, a resident power in the Indo-Pacific, has said a degree of trust has been restored with the US but not with Australia.
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