Media sources in Australia leaked messages related to the cancelled submarine deal between Emmanuel Macron, the president of France and Scott Morrison, the prime minister of Australia on Tuesday, 1 November, Reuters reported.
According to the leaks, when the Australian PM tried to initiate a call with Macron about the contract on 14 September, only two days before AUKUS was officially announced, the latter had responded by asking, "should I expect good or bad news for our joint submarines ambitions?"
The controversy surrounding the multibillion-dollar submarine contract refuses to die down after Macron alleged on Sunday, 31 October, that Morrison had lied to him about the deal.
In September earlier this year, the Australian government ditched a deal with France's Naval Group for conventional submarines, choosing instead to build 12 nuclear-powered submarines in a deal signed with the United States and the United Kingdom, called AUKUS.
The cancellation caused serious bilateral issues between France and the US, and France and Australia.
Morrison told Australian reporters who had traveled with him to Glasgow, Scotland, for COP 26 that he had categorically told Macron during a dinner in June that conventional submarines would not satisfy the growing strategic concerns of Australia in the Indo-Pacific, AP reported.
When asked about why he chose to leak messages at this moment, and why was his reply to him not included in the leaks, Morrison said that Macron "made it pretty clear that he was concerned that this would be a phone call that could result in the decision of Australia not to proceed with the contract", AP added.
Macron had also said that Australia's actions were damaging to its credibility. Morrison hit back saying he should not be questioning Australia's integrity.
(With inputs from Reuters and Associated Press)
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