Details of AUKUS deal were ironed out during G7 summit, France unaware: Reports

Details of the controversial AUKUS deal between Australia, Britain and the US were ironed out during the G7 Summit held earlier in June, The Telegraph reported on Sunday, 19 September 2021. Although French President Emmanuel Macron was also in attendance, he was unaware of the preparations, it added. Signed earlier this week, the AUKUS  deal scraps an Aus$ 66 billion contract between Paris and Canberra to build 12 diesel-electric submarines in favour of a new deal based on information sharing. The AUKUS deal also obliged Washinton and London to help Canberra build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, 

This year’s G7 summit was hosted by the UK from June 11 to 13 in Cornwall. Notably, the then British foreign secretary Dominic Raab wanted the involved parties to the repercussions of the pact. According to the Associated Press, Raab has clearly said that the AUKUS deal could jeopardize relationships with both Beijing and Paris. It did irk the Macron administration, which recalled its envoys to the US and Australia in protest of a new tripartite defence deal. Just a day earlier, The Guardian had reported that clandestine discussions on the deal went on for months before in the US, sans Paris’ knowledge. 

AUKUS submarine row

France has reacted angrily to the new partnership between the US, UK and Australia (AUKUS). It has expressed frustration over a submarine deal, which ends a long-standing contract between Canberra and Paris and replaces it with a deal between the US, UK and Australia. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the deal a “unilateral, brutal and unpredictable decision”. While speaking to radio station Franceinfo, Le Drian said that it was a “stab in the back”, and added that France had established a relationship of trust with Australia and it has now been “betrayed”.

The French Foreign Minister also compared US President Joe Biden to former President Donald Trump over the agreement, recalling the frequent unilateral decision of the prior administration. However, the Biden administration officials have said that they gave France advanced notice of the pact before Wednesday’s announcement. Both US and Australia have indicated that the French government wasn’t blindsided and said that high-ranking French officials were made aware of the decision by the Australian government. 

Image: AP 

(With inputs from AP)