France has said its decision to send its ambassador back to Australia after the recent row over the Aukus security pact between Canberra, the United States and the United Kingdom reflects its willingness to ‘start afresh’.
But Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said this would ‘not have an impact in our determination to remain engaged in the Pacific’, according to the BBC.
France withdrew its ambassador when Aukus was launched last month – and Canberra reneged on a $65bn submarine deal with France to instead access US nuclear-powered submarine technology.
Aukus was aimed at maintaining Western influence in the Asia-Pacific.
Paris called the deal a ‘stab in the back’.
Le Drian said the returning ambassador to Australia would also ‘defend our interests’ over the scrapped submarine contract.
[Image: Ecole polytechnique Université Paris-Saclay, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63642198]