World leaders have arrived in the Big Apple for high-stakes diplomacy talks at the United Nations General Assembly
US President Joe Biden along with Australian PM Scott Morrison have arrived in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.
Morrison has made headlines in recent days after revealing Australia’s agreement with the AUKUS pact resulted in a $90 billion submarine deal with France to be ditched.
Speaking on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Mr Morrison was adamant that dropping the French submarine deal was the right thing to do for Australia, despite the diplomatic fallout with France and potentially Europe.
“It was always going to be a difficult decision,”
The PM said.
Mr Morrison again underlined that conventional submarines from the French were not in Australia’s strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, because of rising Chinese military technologies and capabilities.
The PM remained hopeful that the decision to ditch French diesel-powered subs in favour of US nuclear submarines would not affect any trade agreements with the EU.
China’s ambitions in the South China Sea will be a hot topic at the UNGA meeting
Other issues on the Quad leaders’ agenda include coronavirus vaccines, climate change and critical technologies.”It sounds like a big agenda and it is.”
