Located at the crossroads of Eastern and Western Europe, Vienna is still considered to be the spy capital of the world. Hong Kong has maintained its reputation of being the spy hub of East Asia. Dubai is an ideal place for investment, exchange and operations of all kinds between Central Asia, South Asia and Northern Africa. Singapore is an ideally situated city-state to partner with the Five Eyes—an intelligence alliance that includes Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand—in Asia.

It is possible to posit that Nepal’s geostrategic position makes Kathmandu the perfect place to be the centre of hush-hush consultations. The argument isn’t as speculative as it appears. It is practical for all of the 10 most powerful intelligence agencies in the world to have diplomatic cover should they need to talk shop over a beer or coffee in Thamel, Jhamsikhel or Dhulikhel. Counterintelligence isn’t the forte of Nepal’s security agencies. Some officers are actually happy to act as fixers to facilitate informal conversations between sleuths for a consideration.

Kathmandu’s comparative advantage in this regard is unmistakable. It has a considerable tourist population at all times of the year. That’s not so in New Delhi, Dhaka, Islamabad or Colombo where cabbies and hoteliers often volunteer as the eyes and ears of their defence establishments. Unless there is a tip-off in advance, immigration authorities at the Tribhuvan International Airport aren’t exactly famous for detecting visitors with clandestine intentions. Charles Shobhraj’s claim that he could pass an elephant through Nepal’s customs isn’t without basis.

Moving money—the grease that keeps the wheel of undercover deals from squeaking—in and out of Kathmandu has never been an issue. Although hawala and hundi are common all over South Asia, nowhere do law enforcement agencies take such a lenient view of the unauthorised transfer of funds through informal channels as here.

Then there are perfectly legitimate activities that can facilitate important operations on the side. Nepal is dotted with Hindu and Buddhist shrines for pilgrimage. From trekking, jungle safari, bungee jumping and paragliding to bar hopping, Nepal has everything on offer to engage sleuths waiting to rendezvous somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It’s easy to pass in a trench coat and felt hat at the height of summer without being noticed in the streets of Patan or Pokhara if one doesn’t mind being pursued by peddlers of genuine trinkets and forged antiques.