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France Drops Australia From List of Key Indo-Pacific Partners

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg

France removed Australia from its list of key partners in the Indo-Pacific region as tensions between the two countries linger five months after the AUKUS submarine debacle.

A decision by the government in Canberra to abandon a multibillion-dollar submarine contract with France in favor of American technology and a new security pact with the U.S. and Britain was viewed by President Emmanuel Macron as a betrayal, and sparked a diplomatic row.