India and China have reached a common understanding on the progress made so far in their vexed border talks that will provide a framework for drawing a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to boundary issue. National security advisor Shivshankar Menon said in Bejing on Tuesday that the understanding was reached during the current round of talks with his Chinese counterpart Dai Bingguo.

Elaborating, Menon said the border talks are currently in the second stage of a three-stage process which had been agreed in the beginning.

The first stage was to work out the guiding principles. It resulted in the 2005 agreement on the political parameters and guiding principles for boundary settlement. The second stage is aimed at working out a framework for boundary settlement.

The two countries launched the mechanism of meetings between special representatives on border issues in 2003. Dai, who would be retiring in March, has remained China’s special representative in all the 15 rounds so far.

Menon, who also met foreign minister Yang Jiechi on Monday, wound up his visit after calling on Wu Bangguo, the number two in the outgoing leadership of the ruling Communist Party.