The United States on Wednesday ruled out involving India and Japan in its new defence partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia.
On September 15, the US, the UK and Australia had announced that their trilateral security pact, dubbed Aukus, for the Indo-Pacific region.
As part of the pact, Australia said it would scrap a multibillion-dollar deal it had signed with French company Naval Group in 2016 to build a fleet of conventional submarines. Australia said it would instead build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with American and British technology.
In response, France recalled the country’s ambassadors to Australia and the US. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian even described the pact as a “stab in the back”.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if India and Japan would be made part of the new security alliance.
“The announcement of Aukus last week was not meant to be an indication – and I think this is a message the President also sent to his – to [French President Emmanuel] Macron – that there’s no one else who will be involved in security in the Indo-Pacific,” Psaki said.
Psaki’s comment came ahead of the first in-person summit of the Quad – an alliance of the US, India, Australia and Japan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga are currently in Washington to attend the summit.
Experts say the agreement between the US-UK-Australia is intended to respond to growing Chinese power, especially in the strategically important South China Sea.
On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had discussed cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region with Macron as Paris grapples with the fallout from Australia’s cancellation of the submarine deal.
The two leaders held a telephonic conversation, a statement from Macron’s office had said, without revealing more details.
However, India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on the same day that the trilateral deal will not have an impact on the Quad grouping.
United States President Joe Biden is reportedly trying to arrange a call with Macron, who is particularly furious with him for secretly leading talks about the partnership, reports said.
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