The Head of Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Nepal, Ambassador Rensje Teerink, has acknowledged that the recent meeting by envoys with CK Raut, a controversial Madhesi figure, was ill-timed and “should have been better avoided”.

Teerink maintained, however, that the objective of the meeting was not to “comment on or endorse” Raut's political agenda, which includes secession, but to hear out his grievances.

In an exclusive interview with Nepali Times, Teerink said: "We made it very clear from the outset that we would be in listening mode as his (Raut's) ill treatment was concerned."

Asked if she crossed the line of diplomatic propriety, Teerink said:  "Does meeting a political activist mean that we interfered in the internal affairs of the state (Nepal)? If yes, then we indeed breached diplomatic protocol, but then so have numerous other diplomatic actors who also met Raut."

Teerink has also clarified the recent controversial remarks by the UK ambassador to Nepal, Andrew Sparkes, about religion conversion and the EU's backing for a consensus approach in Nepal's constitution-making process.

The EU was dragged into the controversy after Teerink, accompanied by a Danish diplomat, met Raut who has been charged with treason and repeatedly arrested for publicly pushing a secessionist agenda for the Madhes.

On 22 January, Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, while briefing the international community about the constitution making process, had pointed out that the government should be informed of meetings with political leaders and activists, referring to the obligation to diplomatic norms.

Four days later, Teerink and other ambassadors met Prime Minister Sushil Koirala to put forth clarifications about meeting with Raut.

"The MOFA pointedly highlighted the particular sensitive timing at which the meeting had taken place," she said. "The way Raut is perceived in Nepal at this particular juncture means that a meeting should better have been avoided."

(Read full interview in Friday’s Nepali Times and online on nepalitimes.com)