New Delhi - Bilateral talks between India and Pakistan that began in 2004 have been put on hold in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, news reports said Wednesday.

"I do admit there is a pause in the composite dialogue process because of the attacks on Mumbai," Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Srinagar, capital of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said, "We are now waiting to see whether the assurances they have given us are taken to their logical conclusion."

Tokyo  - Asian stocks fell sharply Friday on news of the collapse of a bailout plan for the US car industry and gloom over the effects of the US financial slump on Asian exporters.

In Japan, stocks dropped 5.56 per cent, ending a week of moderate gains.

The news of the US Senate's rejection of the latest car industry bail-out also led to the highest drop in the dollar against the yen for 13 years, dealing a further blow to Japanese exporters.

Singapore  - Singapore could well be the first economy in Southeast Asia to rebound from the current economic crisis by about third quarter of next year, economist Thierry Apoteker said in a news report Friday.

Apoteker, a French economist and head of a consulting agency, told television station Channel News Asia (CNA) he expected the US and Eurozone to see signs of recovery in the second quarter of 2009, with Asia following suit in the third quarter.

However, he remained cautious about the China factor in Asian economic recovery.

Manila - Developing Asia's economic growth will slow down to 5.8 per cent in 2009 as the impact of the global financial crisis spreads to emerging markets, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned on Thursday.

According to the Asia Economic Monitor of the Manila-based ADB, Asia's economic resilience will be tested by weakening exports and a sharp slowdown of private capital flows due to the global slump.

New Delhi - India and China began the second phase of joint military exercises Saturday, focusing on ant-terrorism training in the southern Indian town of Belgaum.

The exercise code-named Hand-in-Hand 2008 is aimed at expanding and strengthening ties between the two countries' armed forces, an Indian Defence Ministry release said.

The first joint military exercise was held in China's Kunming in October 2007.

India and China fought a bitter war in 1962 over disputed territory, and the current joint military exercise is the first to be conducted on Indian soil.

The Chinese Army has sent a 137-strong contingent for the drill which will include joint tactical manoeuvres and joint command post procedures.

Islamabad - Nuclear-armed Pakistan edged to the brink of war with India when its president received a threatening call from someone posing as Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee following last week's Mumbai attacks, a media report said Saturday.

The caller, who was put through to President Asif Ali Zardari late in the day on November 28 without verification of his claimed identity, warned that India would take "military action if Islamabad failed to immediately act against the supposed perpetrators of the Mumbai killings."