The much awaited treaty, if finalised and signed would facilitate handing over of ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia, who is languishing in a Bangladesh jail following his arrest in 1997 on the charge of entering that country without valid documents.

'The talks on the treaty are close to final stage. The two sides will exchange the drafts and come out with their views and changes, if any, very soon,' said a senior official said at the end of the first day's meeting of the Joint Working Group in New Delhi on Saturday.

The extradition treaty, when signed, is also likely to be a win-win situation for both sides. India will have to hand over of Riasaldar Mosleuddin who isported to have assassinated Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1957. Bangabandhu is also the father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Mosleuddin is believed to be hiding in India.

The Hasina government has been seeking Mosleuddin to put him on trial in connection with Mujib assassination.

The meeting discussed the problems that had cropped up in implementing the accord that resolved a four-decade old problem which had been a major irritant in bilateral ties. Cross-border movement of criminals and terrorists, exchange of Indian and Bangladeshi prisoners who are languishing in each other's jails after having completed their sentence, border management, illegal migration, human trafficking and narcotics smuggling also came up for discussion.

The meeting also discussed expediting the implementation of the pact on demarcation of land boundary and exchange of 162 adversely-held enclaves, which was signed during Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September. The meeting deliberated on exchange of information on arrested persons. Two Prime Ministers had discussed the issue when they met on the margins of the SAARC summit in Maldives recently.

Cross border terrorism has become major concern for New Delhi as investigations into several recent terror incidents have found that perpetrators have links in the neighbouring country.

Responding to persistent Bangladesh's concerns over border firing, Home Minister P Chidambaram had asked the security personnel to exercise maximum restraint while dealing with cross-border crimes like illegal migration and smuggling.

After a break on Sunday, the JWG will meet on Monday when technical experts of the two sides will take up Bangladesh's plea for making easier the procedure of securing Indian visa for Bangladeshis.