There was no plan to meet armed groups: EU

KATHMANDU, May 29: The row over the aborted meetings of the visiting European parliamentarians with the armed Limbuwan and Khumbuwan outfits has taken another turn after the European Union Delegation to Nepal told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that such a meeting had never been planned.



The EU also accused the media of reporting about the meetings never planned. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said the meetings were indeed planned and that´s why it issued objections to such meeting forcing the RU parliamentarians to cancel the meetings. [break]



"The Delegation regrets to note false allegations reported by certain media, which may have caused alarm, and reassures the Ministry that meetings with entities objectionable or unacceptable to the Government of Nepal were never planned, never scheduled, and hence are not going to take place," the EU Delegation to Nepal said in a diplomatic memorandum to the MoFA. Myrepublica.com has obtained a copy of the memorandum.



The EU delegation sent the memorandum in the form of a note verbale on Wednesday as an obvious reaction to the government´s strong objection to the proposed meetings with the armed outfits.



But Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala said the meetings were scheduled. "We came to know the delegation´s meeting after our mission in Brussels faxed the visit itinerary to us," Koirala told myrepublica.com.



The itinerary featured the EU parliamentarians´ meeting with representatives of Khumbuwan and Limbuwan outfits, she said.



A source close to Prime Minister Madhav Nepal said the prime minister himself directed the MoFA to publicly object the meetings.



A MoFA source said the ministry strongly protested the meetings only after a verbal suggestion to the EU office in Kathmandu to abort the meetings was ignored. The ministry had said the EU parliamentarians should abstain from meeting the armed groups as they were illegal and they did not represent any social or political groups.



In an unusual statement last Tuesday, the ministry said the "meetings were against established diplomatic norms and international practices and are likely to have serious repercussion on bilateral relations between Nepal and the EU". It is reportedly the first time that the ministry issued such a stern statement.



In the note verbale, the EU Delegation said the parliamentarians are exclusively meeting recognized civil society actors and members of political parties that are represented in the CA.



kiran@myrepublica.com

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