France denies support to AUKUS deal; now looks forward to bolster ties with Japan & India

France will not support the controversial AUKUS deal that was signed between the US, UK and Australia last month, the country’s envoy for Indo-Pacific told Kyodo News on Thursday. Envoy Christophe Penot said that not only the tri-lateral “approach was not suitable” for France, but the multi-million submarine deal also threatened to escalate the regional conflict in the Indo-pacific. Earlier, the France President Emmanuel Macron-led administration had publicly denounced the deal which scraps Aus$ 66 billion contract between Paris and Canberra to build 12 diesel-electric submarines in favour of a new deal based on information sharing.

Speaking to the Japanese News outlet, Penot asserted that the AUKUS deal could force countries to choose between China and US-geo-political rivals competing for power in the Indo-pacific region. This would, as per the envoy, fuel regional tensions rather than resolve them. An additional problem, he said, is that it could jeopardise international non-nuclear treaties spurring more and more countries to acquire nuclear submarines. Notably, Penot is not the first one to raise such concern. Previously, others including Indonesian and Malaysian lawmakers also raised concern that AUKUS could trigger rivalry between major powers in SouthEast Asia.

'Will strengthen relations with Japan and India'

Meanwhile, talking about Paris’ stance on the deal, the top official said that Emmanuel Macron administration wasn’t inclined towards cancelling the deal. "This does not change our strategy," he said, adding that now France was looking to bolster the relationship with other South Asian states. "I think this will encourage us to strengthen our ties with Japan and India...when you lose a friend, your friendship with your other friends becomes stronger," the French diplomat said. 

Regardless, Penot emphasised that the US was an "ally of France" and also also a major player in the Indo-Pacific. "We want to coordinate our strategies. That is not to say that we will align (with their plans), but we will discuss to see where we can be complementary," he said. Earlier last month, Paris called back its ambassador Philippe Etienne from Washington in what is being deemed as a retaliatory move in the AUKUS deal. Meanwhile, commenting on the Australia-France relation, he said that it will take time until they restore a "sufficient level of trust to continue to work together as we did in the past."

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