Beijing: India and China on June 13 decided to step up bilateral co-operation on counter-terrorism and emphasised the key role of the United Nations in combating the scourge faced by the international community, official sources said.

"The two sides exchanged views on the international and regional counter-terrorism situation, Sino- Indian co-operation on counter-terrorism, role of the UN in combating global terrorism and enhancing counter-terrorism capabilities," Indian Embassy sources said.

Both sides also stressed the important role of the UN in the international counter-terrorism co-operation bilaterally and multilaterally, a source said.

These consensuses were reached between senior officials of the two Foreign Ministers during their second meeting of Sino-Indian dialogue mechanism on counter-terrorism, which was held in Beijing, ahead of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's official visit from June 22 to 27.

The meeting, originally planned for May, had to be rescheduled due to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China.

The Indian delegation was led by the joint secretary (East Asia) of the External Affairs Ministry, Ashok K Kantha while the Chinese side was led by the acting director general of the Department of International Organisations and Conferences of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhang Jun.

The Indian side met with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang.

During their interaction, Shen said the Sino-Indian counter-terrorism dialogue would also help prepare for the forthcoming visit to China by the Prime Minister.

PTI