This study investigates the impact of external assistance and government expenditure on climate resilience in the agriculture sector of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal from 2001 to 2021. Climate resilience is evaluated using a composite index constructed from normalized values of three key indicators. The index incorporates crop yield stability (computed from crop yield data in kg per hectare), irrigation infrastructure (measured as the percentage of cultivated land equipped for irrigation) and the ND-GAIN (Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative) score, which assesses a country’s vulnerability to climate change and its adaptive capacity. In this analysis, the climate resilience index serves as the dependent variable, while the independent variables include external assistance (measured in dollars) and government expenditure (expressed as a percentage). The dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) results show that external assistance significantly and positively affects climate resilience in India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, while its impact is negative and statistically insignificant in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Government expenditure, on the other hand, supports climate resilience in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Pakistan, but does not have a meaningful effect in Sri Lanka and Nepal. Moreover, the DOLS findings are further supported by fully modified ordinary least squares and canonical cointegration regression. Overall, the study emphasizes the need for stronger governance, better policy coordination and efficient resource allocation to maximize the impact of external assistance and government spending on climate resilience in South Asia.
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