OVER US-AUSTRALIA DEAL, FRANCE MUST BITE THE BULLET: In a highly unusual move, France has called back its ambassadors from the US and Australia, furious over the loss of a multi-billion dollar submarine deal with Canberra. Australia had cancelled conventional submarines agreement with France in favour of US nuclear-powered subs. France has also called off defence talks with UK, given that Britain is also part of the deal. But, what does France hope to achieve? Apart from venting its anger, there seems little that Paris can do about this. It has not seen any support for its case from other major Western nations. Germany, for instance, is hardly bothered. The only real option for Paris, it seems, is to bite the bullet - and avoid isolation among allies.[COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]
AP