the australian high commission in delhi doesnt appear to be a building under siege it is wellordered bordered by impeccable green sward here the sound of indias often inchoate anger at australian racism to indian students seems very distant but it is peter vargheses job to hear and answer indias charges he is australias new high commissioner in delhi and his origins in kerala birth in kenya and australian upbringing make him possibly canberras best advertisement for multicultural inclusiveness he talks political and cultural fusion with rashmee roshan lall excerpts from the interviewwould you agree this is a difficult time for any australian high commissioner in delhionly to the extent that we have this one issue which has been a difficult issue if you take the overall picture i would say it is a terrific time im not dismissive of the student issue but were confident that over time well be able to resolve this problemyou use the word problem so it must be a difficult time to be australian high commissioner in indiaits patently a perceived problemyoure calling it a perceived problem i think its an issue thats been considerably beaten up in the media im referring to the image that may have been conveyed that this was a rampant problem throughout australia now thats not to say that im dismissive and that the attacks havent occurred that those attacks were serious and we take them seriously and they ought to be condemned but this idea that somehow all indians in australia are under threat or that australians are a marauding group of indianbashers is obviously absolutely wrongis this a dream job for you interpreting your country of ethnicity to your adopted countryi sought the job essentially for professional reasons i think this is a big relationship with a lot of growth tissue left in it there are very few of those available to a professional australian diplomat because big relationships are usually wellestablished relationships which have some room for growth but nothing like the quantum of growth which i believe this relationship haswould you regard yourself as australias best advertisement for multicultural inclusiveness here in india right nowi wouldnt regard myself as an advert in any way look the best advert for australian multiculturalism is the journey we have taken in australia from where we were in the 1950s to where we are in 2009 in the space of one generation to be able to move from a society which formally still practised the white australian policy to a country in 2009 which is composed of people from every part of the world but could there be a better advertisement than you for australian multicultural inclusiveness here in india right nowi view my position here as an australian diplomat who happens to have an indian background rather than putting the stress on having the indian backgroundbut surely you cant fail to notice that if anyone says australia is racist you can reply look at me i