``China does not want to be seen on the wrong side of the fence on the question of terrorism especially with the United States, Russia and India stepping up cooperation and consultation against state-sponsored and cross-border terrorism,'' a diplomatic source told PTI.

While Beijing would not like to isolate Islamabad on the issue of its support to cross-border terrorism, it is aware that acting in concert with the US and others can lead to Pakistan creating disturbances in the restive northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, he said.

``Thus the Chinese are in a fix,'' he said, as the issue of international terrorism is expected to be high on the agenda of many countries including India at the upcoming 54th session of the United Nations general assembly in New York.

He said, Russia, which has been seriously affected byterrorist bombings recently, would like to enlist China's active support on the issue.

Though China has said that it supports Russian efforts to combat terrorist crimes and safeguard public security, Moscow would want Beijing to use its influence over Pakistan to stop Islamic fundamentalists fomenting trouble.On Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency reported that Russia deported nine foreigners, including three Pakistanis, from Dagestan where the Russian troops are fighting Islamic rebels.

The sources said that the issue of cross-border terrorism may have cropped up during the Sino-Pakistani foreign ministry-level consultations in Islamabad.

The talks were described as routine in nature but sources said such meetings helped both sides to coordinate and concert their policies before the UN general assembly session and various other multilateral fora.

The two sides also discussed the implications of renewed attempts in the US to impose sanctions against China and Pakistan on the question ofBeijing's supply of complete M-11 Missile systems to Islamabad.

China has dismissed the new US intelligence report on M-11 cooperation as an old issue and an attempt to further disturb Sino-US relations. According to sources, both sides also agreed that durable peace in Afghanistan could only be achieved through dialogue and negotiations among the Afghan parties.The sources said the Chinese side may have briefed the Pakistani side on the proposed first-ever security dialogue between India and China which was decided during the visit of External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Beijing in mid-June.