Australia Made "Huge Mistake" In Cancelling Submarine Deal: French Envoy
NDTV
Australia has called off a 2016 deal with France's Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines.
Australia has made a "huge" diplomatic error by ditching a multi-billion-dollar order for French submarines in favour of an alternative deal with the United States and Britain, France's envoy to Canberra said on Saturday.
Australia announced on Thursday it would scrap the 2016 deal with France's Naval Group to build a fleet of conventional submarines and instead build at least eight nuclear-powered ones with U.S. and British technology after striking a trilateral security partnership.
Australia's decision has also riled China, the major rising power in the Indo-Pacific region, and Malaysia expressed concern on Saturday that Canberra's decision to build atomic-powered submarines could trigger a regional nuclear arms race.
"It will provoke other powers to also act more aggressively in the region, especially in the South China Sea," the Malaysian prime minister's office said, without mentioning China.
