French President Emmanuel Macron says Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison lied to him about a scrapped deal over the cancellation of a submarine building contract in September, and indicated more efforts were required to rebuild trust between the two allies.
Macron was furious after Australia cancelled a 37billion dollars deal to build 12 submarines, and instead negotiated a new defense pact with the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
Morrison insists he was honest despite the allegations. The two met for the first time at the G20 summit after their row erupted in September.
“I don’t think, I know, I have a lot of respect for your country, I have a lot of respect and a lot of friendship for your people. I just say when we have respect, you have to be true and you have to behave in line, and consistently, with this value.”
He said in comments on Sunday to a group of Australian reporters who had travelled to Italy for the summit of leaders of the top 20 economies.
Moron says he has respect for both his country and the friendship between the two countries and he would not jeopardize by being dishonest in the pact for his personal gain or interests.
The pact, dubbed as Aukus is the biggest security arrangement between the three nations since World War Two.