'Best democracies are those that can have uncomfortable conversations'

Best democracies are the ones that are able to have uncomfortable conversations, Australian High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu said on Tuesday, asserting that her country like India has high levels of tolerance.

Sidhu, speaking at the launch of the book 'Glass Walls: Stories of Tolerance and Intolerance from the Indian Subcontinent and Australia', said in Australia there was an ongoing conversation about identity.

"It is often said that one of the great things about Australia is that there may be an open debate but in the end we are a very accepting country, a very tolerant nation," she said.

"We continue, despite the debates, to accept people from all backgrounds, all faiths, all ethnicities, all nationalities, into are nation and adopt as our own," Sidhu said.

There are over 200 nationalities all of whom proudly call themselves Australians, she said.

"The rates of ethnic inter religious marriages are extremely high. It is an indicator of high levels of tolerance... It is the same in India," she said.

The Australian envoy hailed the authors of the short stories and the editors Meenakshi Bharat and Sharon Rundle for dealing with the complex issue.