It is the stuff of spy novels: a Bulgarian plane bringing American anti-terrorist equipment to Nepal is detained in India. The reported detention of the An-24 aircraft for five days in Ahmedabad has created a flutter in Kathmandu. Indian media reported the plane was detained for inspection, even through the Indian External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said it landed, was inspected and took off for Kathmandu on 25 September itself.

American officials in Kathmandu said the Bulgarian plane was carrying training equipment for anti-terrorist activities. "This is a regular training and the State Department has been helping in such training in different parts of the world," US Embassy spokesperson Constance Colding Jones told us. "The cargo was not military assistance."

Indian Embassy officials in Kathmandu said they were not aware about the contents but confirmed that the cargo was inspected in Ahmedabad. "The inspection was in accordance to the bilateral arrangement between Nepal and India," the official said. Nepal's own Home Ministry was clueless, although sources said another Russian-made Il-76 aircraft had brought a Mi-17 transport helicopter for the army's air wing this week.