Nepal, April 22 -- It would be hard to believe if we say that Nepal is providing more 'aid' to the United States in recent years than it receives from it, even before USAID projects were slashed. Or a suggestion that Nepal has given the US $500 million more than what it receives as aid and remittance. What if we go even further and claim that Nepal has provided between $500 million to $4 billion to Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia each in 2021?

It is very easy to dismiss these numbers as made up figures. But they are preliminary estimates from ongoing research by the Nepal Institute for Policy Research (NIPoRe) to redefine the narrative on foreign aid. These are 'conservative' estimates of the net resources transferred fro...