The top diplomats, meeting after a two-year hiatus, are also expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to remove non-tariff barriers tomorrow at the end of the two-day talks.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon touched down at the capital yesterday afternoon to lead the Indian delegation at the talks.

Upon arrival, Menon told the press the purpose of his visit is "To hold substantive discussions on bilateral issues between the two countries and to see how to take our relations forward, to our mutual benefit."

He will meet Foreign Adviser Iftekhar A Chowdhury today as well as call on senior government officials.

Acting Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain will lead the Bangladeshi delegation at the official talks, to be held at the State Guest House Padma.

Foreign ministry sources said, although all bilateral issues will be addressed during the talks, the two sides are more likely to press for operationalising mechanisms for further negotiations on the matters rather than 'quick fixes'.

Both sides had agreed to hold secretary-level talks annually, but flagging Dhaka-New Delhi relations turned the meetings into a biennial affair, held alternately in Dhaka in 2003 and in New Delhi in 2005.

Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury in April, following his meeting with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee on the sidelines of the Saarc summit in New Delhi, promised regular secretary-level talks as part of a "new upward trajectory" in Dhaka-New Delhi relations.

As a result of the talks, a MoU between Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institutions (BSTI) and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is expected to be signed, which was recently approved by the council of advisers.

The MoU would be in line with Dhaka's emphasis on trade during the talks, with Bangladesh looking to close the cumulative trade deficit of $7 to $8 billion with India.

According to the MoU provisions, BSTI and BIS would standardise quality controls to allow the BSTI to perform tests and certify Bangladeshi goods for export to India.

These are the first steps to remove non-tariff barriers, long demanded by Bangladesh to expand its market in India, and especially stressed by Iftekhar during informal bilateral talks during the last Saarc Summit.

Bangladesh has also demanded the removal of para-tariff barriers, which raises the price of Bangladeshi exports in India due to Indian customs surcharges, additional charges, internal taxes and charges levied on imports, and decreed customs valuation.

The secretary-level talks, including Menon's call on the foreign adviser later today, are expected to re-energise deals on joint-border patrolling and border demarcation issues between Dhaka and New Delhi.

Other issues, such as water and mutual concerns regarding fugitive criminals on either side of the border, are likely to receive attention during the talks.

The meet is also expected to bring up the multi-billion dollar investment proposals from two Indian business giants, Mittal and Tata.

High-level government sources, however, say that the government does not want to decide on the Tata and Mittal investment plans and wants an elected government to make the decisions.