BORIS Johnson has insisted the UK's relationship with France is important amid the ongoing row about the country's security pact with the US and Australia.

Ben Wallace, UK Defence Secretary, was supposed to meet his French counterpart today however the meeting was called off.

France has also withdrawn diplomats from Australia and America following the formation of the AUKUS security alliance last week.

French officials say they have been shafted as the new security pact effectively tore up an agreement with Australia for a lucrative submarines contract.

The Prime Minister was speaking at a press conference in New York, where he is attending the United Nations general assembly, and told reporters the UK’s relationship with France was “incredibly important”.

He said: “Our relationship with France is incredibly important, it is historic, it goes back a long, long time.

“It is founded on shared values, shared belief in democracy, we work together around the world.

“The UK and France are shoulder-to-shoulder in the Sahel fighting terrorism, we are shoulder to shoulder in the Baltic states in Nato’s largest current mission.

“And it is an extraordinary fact: there is one other country in the world with whom we share a programme to do simulated nuclear testing. Which country is that? It is France.”

Mr Johnson also spoke about the need for wealthy countries to invest in tackling climate change, and said the COP26 conference in Glasgow was to be a “turning point” during his visit to the US.

He said: “It’s the moment when we have to grow up and take our responsibilities,” he said.

“We go through a period of glorious indifference about the world, we have been through that, we have been through our childhood, if you like.

“We have now got to realise this is a problem that requires grip and there are changes we are going to have to make.

“But people should be optimistic because we can make these changes whilst encouraging the creation of literally millions of high-wage, high-skilled jobs.”

Ben Wallace told MPs this afternoon hat France and the UK were “joined at the hip” on defence issues.

He said: “The United States and France are our closest allies. The United States is the cornerstone of Nato, by far outspending and out-contributing than any other European nation on that security. It has been the guarantor of European security for decades and we should not forget that.

“When it comes towards France, I have an extremely close relationship with my French counterpart, I have met her only a month or two ago, I had dinner with her in Paris even months before that. We speak regularly.

“Britain and France, on many issues, are joined at the hip – complex weapons, counter-terrorism, both west and east Africa issues, and indeed more recently in places like Iraq and Syria.

“There is absolutely no intent here by the United Kingdom Government to slight, upset or drive a wedge between us and France.”