France cancels talks of UK defense amidst row

The defense minister of France has canceled talks with the UK defense amidst the row that the new security deal has been prompted. The deal has taken place within the US, UK, and Australia. Paris is quite angry with Australia as it has signed the Aukus pact to build nuclear-powered submarines. Australia has pulled out a major contract with France within the process.

UK PM Boris Johnson said to France that it has nothing to worry about this deal. But the meeting of Florence Parly with UK defense Secretary Ben Wallace in London had also been called off.

Lord Ricketts, who is a former British ambassador to France, has confirmed that the meeting will happen at a later date. Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has said that all the bilateral relationships will go through a period of tension. he further added that he does not doubt that their relationship with France will ultimately endure

He further said that this pact with Australia and the US and UK has the intention to strengthen the relationship with two long-standing defense partners. It wanted to support the technology companies and high-tech manufacturing across the UK.

The Aukus agreement brokered last week. The world is looking at it as an effort to counter the influence of China in the contested South China Sea. It has ended a deal worth $37bn that Australia signed in 2016 for France to build its 12 conventional submarines.

Jean-Yves Le Drina, the french foreign minister he described this pact as a stab in the back. According to him, it is unacceptable behavior. French President Emmanuel Macron has also ordered a recall of the French ambassador to Canberra and Washington.

The European Union has said that it was unaware of the impact of the Aukus agreement on the trade negotiation with Australia. Mr. Johnson said that France should not worry about the Thai alliance. He insisted that Anglo-French relations would stay ineradicable.

The PM further said that Britain and France share a very friendly relationship which he thinks is hugely important.

This pact means that Australia will become the seventh nation to operate nuclear-powered submarines. However, this pact will see its allies sharing cyber capability, undersea technology, and artificial intelligence.

China has criticized this pact. It said that these three powers have a “Cold War mentality”. On the other hand, North Korea’s nuclear weapon reactivation has close monitoring. It might spark a “nuclear arms race” sooner or later.

Credits: BBC