France, July 13 -- France's defence relations with Australia have recovered after their 2021 bust-up over a major submarine contract, the country's ambassador said Sunday.

Paris expressed its "strong regrets" when Australia tore up a multibillion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines from France, Ambassador Pierre-Andre Imbert said.

Since the 2022 election of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, the defence relationship had been "restarted", he said.

"Now, the first pillar of our cooperation is defence and security, so we have a very good level of cooperation," the ambassador told French press agency AFP as French forces joined major military drills around Australia.

When Australia ditched the French deal, it op...