РІР‚СљWe feel, we are also a country of Pacific. When you want to face an issue, a challenge, usually you try to rally countries which are like-minded, you donРІР‚в„ўt try to exclude major partners and my country within the EU is the most involved in the Pacific,РІР‚Сњ he said. It was a breach of trust between allies and also itРІР‚в„ўs a major strategic inconsistency. The envoy termed the signing of AUKUS as a breach of trust between allies. France has been on IndiaРІР‚в„ўs side each time you needed us, whether it is 1998 nuclear tests we didnРІР‚в„ўt condemn, (be it) Kargil and very recently during COVID crisis, thatРІР‚в„ўs how partners should be,РІР‚Сњ he added. I mean thatРІР‚в„ўs the way we want to develop our cooperation and we also want to be trusted partners which we are as you know. We want to get strategic space, strategic autonomy and we feel the best way to do it is to work together as we have been doing for more than fifty years now on defence, critical technology, space, cyber, on AI, energy in many areas. India and France, itРІР‚в„ўs nothing new, are taking the first approach since the beginning. РІР‚СљObviously some countries have taken second approach. Either you develop your strategic autonomy, give yourself means to be independent or you just rely on other country to provide you security,РІР‚Сњ he said. When youРІР‚в„ўve challenges like these, you have two solutions. India is at the core of our Indo-Pacific strategy as we have the same approach. РІР‚СљMy President, your Prime Minister spoke, ministers spoke. Pointing at AUKUS, the envoy said there are two ways to face a challenge РІР‚вЂњ either develop strategic autonomy or rely on other nations for security. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his French counterpart on the sidelines of UNGA in New York. French President Emmanuel Macron had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ever since AUKUS was signed, there have been multiple interactions between India and France at the highest levels. However, India has already clarified that AUKUS is a security alliance and Quad is an alliance of like-minded democracies. The grouping includes Australia, India, Japan and the US.Р”В¬ritics say that AUKUS has diluted the relevance of Quad. The first in-person Quad summit, hosted by US President Joe Biden, was held in Washington last week. We are absolutely not against any cooperation on a case-to-case basis, as you may have seen in the month of April, the Quad navies joined French military exercise and it was quite a success.РІР‚Сњ We are result-oriented and it will depend. Right now we are pretty comfortable with the way how Quad is making announcements and working, we will see they deliver on it and decided to be very pragmatic on that. How do we interact with Quad depends on the way it is evolved. РІР‚СљIf I look at the statements, including by the Indian officials, there is a clear difference between military alliance AUKUS and a more broader, global group of countries which is Quad. France views Quad as a broader global group in comparison to security alliance AUKUS, the envoy said. We feel that we need a much broader approach with much more partnership between countries, we need to provide an alternative to order pushed by certain countries in the region, we need a positive agenda.РІР‚СњР”Р„UKUS is a trilateral security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States for the Indo-Pacific region announced on September 15 this year. We donРІР‚в„ўt think the logic of blocs being military confrontational is the answer to our problem. In an interview to a news agency, French envoy to India Emmanuel Lenain said: РІР‚СљYou know our approach. New Delhi: In a reference to AUKUS, France said that the military confrontational bloc is not the answer to problems in the Indo-Pacific region and a much broader approach is needed.

Military blocs