Khaleda Zia being received by junior foreign minister E. Ahamed at IGI airport in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)

New Delhi, March 20: Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia today arrived in the Indian capital hoping to rebuild confidence and end the distrust that has strained relations between the neighbours over several irritants that have emerged in recent times.

India, too, seemed willing to give Bangladesh a patient hearing. A day before Khaleda meets her counterpart Manmohan Singh, Delhi said there were no insurmountable issues between the two countries.

Action matched words as Khaleda flew into a warm reception. Junior foreign minister E. Ahamed and foreign secretary Shyam Saran were at the airport to receive her.

“I look forward to very candid and constructive discussions with our friends in India,” Khaleda said in a statement after reaching Delhi.

“I hope that as a result of our discussions it would be possible for us to create conditions for perceptible improvement in the content of our cooperative relations,” the Bangladesh leader, who is accompanied by foreign minister Morshed Khan and finance minister Saifur Rahman, added.

The visit, at a time festering disputes over the border and sharing of river waters and Delhi’s allegations that anti-India militant groups operate from Bangladeshi soil have strained relations between the two, also has a strong economic content. Delhi and Dhaka will sign three pacts, including one on avoidance of double taxation, and an investment protection agreement.

Finance minister P. Chidambaram today indicated that India was ready to allow easy access to Bangladeshi goods and said Delhi being a bigger economy can absorb exports from Dhaka.

“What is the point in calling ourselves a regional economic power if we can’t help our neighbours? Bangladesh remains poor.? What will happen is more people from Bangladesh will migrate to India. And that is what is happening,” Chidambaram said.

India and Bangladesh had signed a trade agreement in 1980 that expired in 2001. Till now, it has been extended only by two to three months. Officials said the pact would now be renewed for a longer period of two years. India is also exploring ways to improve trade through the water route.

Delhi is expected to pressure Khaleda ? who is making her first trip to India since assuming office four years ago ? to do more to crack down on militant groups that pose a danger to India, officials said. Delhi, they added, would offer Bangladesh assistance in rooting out terrorist infrastructure from its soil.

The officials said Delhi would also push Dhaka to prevent what it says is the illegal migration of thousands of poor Bangladeshis across the 4,000-km porous border. The two countries are also hoping to sign an agreement on checking illegal trafficking of narcotics, sources said.