March 19, India and Australia are slated to discuss the thorny issue of uranium export in New Delhi. But Peter Varghese, Australia’s first foreign and trade secretary of Indian origin, stresses that relations between the two nations are on the right track. The 57-year-old diplomat tells Debaashish Bhattacharya on the telephone — in his first interview to an Indian newspaper after he was made secretary late last year — that the two countries will “work their way through” complications.

Q. You were the Australian high commissioner to India in 2009 when relations between the two countries seemed somewhat strained.

A. The first year we certainly had many challenges to deal with, particularly the student safety issue and also the Commonwealth Games. But the trajectory of the relationship improved immensely and by the time I left (in November 2012) Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited New Delhi and we had the uranium issue resolved and the relationship was looking very strong.

Q. But no Indian prime minister has visited Australia in the last 25 or so years…

A. That’s right. Rajiv Gandhi was the last Indian prime minister to visit Australia.

Q. There are some reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might visit Australia this year.

A. I don’t know whether it will happen this year. But whenever it happens, it will be a big event and it will push the relationship a lot further.

Q. But why do you think Indian prime ministers have stayed away from Australia? Is the wrangling over uranium responsible for it?

A. I certainly don’t see it all explained by the uranium issue. There are probably a number of factors. Australia is a long way from India, for instance. But we have now agreed, after Prime Minister Gillard’s October 2012 visit, that the two prime ministers will meet once a year. It could either be a meeting in each other’s country or it could be on the margins of an international meeting.

Q. Where does the uranium issue stand today?

A. Prime Minister Gillard personally led the move in December 2011 to change the Labour Party policy, which was not to export uranium to a country that hasn’t signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. During her India visit, both prime ministers agreed to launch negotiations on a nuclear co-operation agreement before you can export uranium. We are going to have the first round of those negotiations in March in Delhi. It will be a bilateral treaty.

Q. When is it likely to be signed?

A. That depends on how the negotiations go. I don’t think either side expects it to be a quick negotiation. For Australia, this will be the first time that we enter into negotiations with a non-NPT party. We have a template of requirements and India, of course, has its own template. So we will have to work our way through those complications and I wouldn’t want to put a time frame on it. I don’t think we will finish it this year.

Q. Indian students have been flocking to Australia in recent years. Is Australia making the move easier for them?

A. We have reduced the financial requirements that were necessary before a visa was issued. We extended work rights for those studying in Australia. We are trying to encourage more university students and to deal with vocational training with a model that delivers more in India. Under the previous regime, which no longer applies, we had a different list of occupations which were in demand, such as cookery and hairdressing. So you did see a large number of students from India who were driven not so much by an educational objective but by a migration objective. We want to separate the two.

Q. What about air connectivity?

A. I hope very much that we can see direct flights this year. Air India is planning to do that in the second quarter and it will make a big difference if we can fly directly between the two countries.

Q. Indians were concerned over attacks on students in Australia in 2008-09…

A. The issue was magnified beyond what it was and that’s understandable, particularly in a 24/7 news environment. People conflated the risks of urban crime with racism. So every time anything happened to an Indian student, it was blamed on racism. It took a lot of effort and time to try and explain what was happening. The Australian government also addressed the issues that needed to be addressed.

Q. Let’s go back a bit. Tell us about your family.

A. My parents were born and brought up in Kerala. They moved to Kenya soon after they were married in 1943. Both were teachers. My father moved to Australia in 1964 when I was eight. It was a very brave decision at that point. He didn’t know anybody in Australia. But he moved there with a family of 11, including nine children, on a two-year visa. I grew up in Brisbane and did my honours in Australian history and a double major in anthropology at the University of Queensland. I went to Canberra in 1978 to join the public service.

Q. Did you speak Malayalam at home?

A. I don’t speak Malayalam. I grew with Swahili (in Kenya) and English at home. But our culinary habits were Indian from the beginning. Our daily meal comprised Indian curries.

Q. Did you face any discrimination as a child?

A. Very little. The number of Indians or Asians in Brisbane was very small at the time and I could count on my fingers the numbers of times I would have experienced any racial discrimination.

Q. How big is the Indian community in Australia?

A. It’s about 4,50,000. For Australia, it’s a large number. In the 2011 census, the Indian community turned out to be the fastest growing and Punjabi the fastest growing language in Australia.

Q. As a post script, why do you think Masterchef Australia is so popular in India?

A. (Laughs) The Australian Masterchef has succeeded perhaps a little better than other Masterchef programmes because the style of the Australian judges is quite appealing. They both encourage the competitors and praise them when they deserve praise. They are also quite discerning about performance.