It is so confusing Can someone enlighten me? Minister Sitaula is saying there is no Ukrainian plane grounded in Ahamedabad, INdia and at the same justifying the fact that there was a ltter of credit issued in April 3, 2005 for the same arms deal, also specifified the upfront money of $180000 paid to a ocmpany for the deal. The Home Minister should have instead said that the Royal government did negotiate a deal at this time in the Nation and spent some money. Here is a copy and paste ------------- No Kathmandu bound Ukranian plane grounded in Ahmedabad: Govt. The government has said that the recent media reports about a Kathmandu bound Ukranian plane being grounded in Ahmedabad, India were baseless. Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula (File Photo) Speaking on Monday’s session of the House of Representatives, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula said, “No plane carrying arms has flown to Nepal, nor has any Nepal bound plane been stopped in Ahmedabad.” “On August 25, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) received a letter seeking permission for the flight of a Ukrainian cargo plane via Ahmedabad to Kathmandu. It was written by the New Delhi-based Embassy of Ukraine to the Embassy of Nepal on August 16, but the Defense ministry immediately requested Indian government to deny permission to the airplane to land in India and the Indian government acted upon the request,” Home Minister Sitaula told the parliament. The L/C (Letter of Credit) was placed on April 11, 2005 to buy those weapons. The government had paid $ 180,000 to the company on July 3, 2005, the minister said. “It is also understood that the deadline of the L/C was thrice extended because the company concerned could not deliver the consignment on time. Now the deadline has been set till October 30,” Sitaula said. Citing information received by the New Delhi-based Nepali embassy, he added that no Ukrainian plane was grounded at Ahmedabad. “The government has no policy to buy arms and ammunition for now, because we do not need them,” he told this daily. The news report about grounding of a Kathmandu bound plane loaded with arms in Ahmedabad created a sensation in Nepal as the Maoists questioned the government’s intention behind fresh imports of arms. nepalnews.com pb Sep 05 06