Bangladesh and India today launched the first joint census in 162 'enclaves' on both sides of the borders, as part of efforts by the two sides to reach a decisive end to the protracted border problem.

The enclaves, or areas land-locked by territories belonging to the other side, has been an unresolved border issue between the two countries since partition.

Joint teams from both India and Bangladesh are aiming to complete the headcount over the next two days before they refer their findings to the political level.

The moves come ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's planned visit to Dhaka in September.

"Joint teams of both the countries have completed the preparatory works for the headcount at enclaves today and we expect the counting to complete in next two days and refer the matter to political level for a decision," joint secretary at the home ministry, Kamaluddin Ahmed, told PTI.

A foreign ministry spokesman supplemented him, saying the first-ever census was being overseen by senior officials from both countries. The pieces of lands located in each others' territories could be exchanged under a political decision.

Bangladesh and India share over 4,000 kilometers of common porous border, of which 6.1 kilometres is still un-demarcated.

The two countries have 162 such enclaves -- 111 of them Indian territories inside Bangladesh.

The Joint Boundary Working Group meeting between the two sides and subsequent home secretary level talks earlier this year had decided to expedite the process of exchanging the enclaves under a 1974 agreement.

The enclave residents, who are virtually state-less refugees, need to cross the international border every day for cultivation and have to follow the official formalities as well as clearance from paramilitary forces of both countries.

Officials said most of the residents of the enclaves had earlier agreed to change their nationalities under the exchange plans, but they would again be given a chance to opt for migration once the exchanges are made.

Officials familiar with the process said earlier that the surveyors would use a simple form of head count for residents of the enclaves for the first time since the 1947 partition of the subcontinent.

"We are hoping to reach an understanding (on enclave issues) that will be pragmatic and takes account of the ground realities while keeping in mind the spirit of the Land Border Agreement (of 1974)," foreign minister Dipu Moni told a joint press conference last week after talks with her Indian counterpart S M Krishna in Dhaka.

"We will be able to end the uncertainties and hardships of the people living in these areas," she said.

According to earlier unofficial estimates, the population of 111 Indian enclaves was around 100,400 on 17,000 acres of land while the 51 Bangladeshi enclaves inside India have 44,000 residents on 7,000 acres of land.

Officials said 3,000 acres of Bangladeshi land is inside India, while around 3,500 acres of Indian land is inside Bangladesh.

The enclaves, which appear as islands of land, are believed to be the result of ownership arrangements made centuries ago between local kings.

Several historians hold the belief that the messy situation is the result of the eighth-century peace treaties between the kingdom of Cooch Behar, now in the Indian state of West Bengal, and the Mughal Empire.