PARIS, 18 September 2021, (TON): France has recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia for consultations, in a backlash over a submarine deal.

Australia cancelled a multibillion-dollar deal for conventional French submarines to enter a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with the United States and Britain in which it will obtain US nuclear-powered submarines.

US moves to assure ‘vital partner’ France over submarine pact

Calling the cancellation “unacceptable behaviour”, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement “the decision to recall the envoys, on request from President Emmanuel Macron, “is justified by the exceptional seriousness of the announcements” made by Australia and the United States.

A White House official on Friday that the US regrets France’s decision and will continue to be engaged in the coming days to resolve differences between the two countries.

Australia said on Saturday it also regrets France’s decision

It added that it values its relationship with France and will keep engaging with Paris on many other issues.