China and its “all-weather” ally Pakistan are discussing an agreement similar to the one India has reached with the US on the civilian nuclear cooperation to maintain the regional security balance, sources said here on Sunday.

Even as the two old allies discuss a nuclear deal, China’s reservations over the Indo-US deal and the boundary issue may be clouding =Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s maiden visit to Beijing, which is likely to take place towards the end of the year, they said.

Since Pakistan has pleaded with China at the highest level not to let it down in the nuclear balance with India, Beijing is apparently working out a nuclear deal with Islamabad, in case the Indo-US nuclear agreement is okayed by the Nuclear Suppliers Group , sources said. While China was apparently taken aback by the finalisation of the 123 agreement, Beijing now hopes that the opposition within India itself will wreck the Indo-US nuclear deal. At the same time, China is making active preparations for a counter-deal involving Pakistan, they said, while taking note of the recent spate of critical reports on the 123 agreement in the official Chinese media.

The China-Pak defence ties and the implications of the Indo-US deal on Beijing and Islamabad came up for discussions here this month when Chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Ehsan Ul Haq, visited Beijing.