KABUL: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was due in Kabul on Tuesday for his first official visit to Afghanistan, which was likely to focus on how to tackle extremist violence straddling the common border.

Zardari, who postponed a trip last month because of bad weather, is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai shortly after arriving from Islamabad in the afternoon, the Pakistani embassy said.

'They will mainly be discussing bilateral relations, economic cooperation, trade and the regional situation,' embassy spokesman Naeem Khan told AFP.

Asked if the resurgence of the extremist Taliban along the Afghan and Pakistan border would be a focus, he said: 'The regional situation covers all related topics.'

The visit by Zardari, who will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, comes less than a week after Pakistan's army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani came here to discuss the fight against insurgents.

At their last meeting in Istanbul in early December for Turkish-sponsored talks on measures to curb the rise of Islamist extremism in the region, they pledged to 'confront the scourge of terrorism in all its forms.'

Zardari said on Monday, after meeting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher, that Pakistan was 'pursuing cooperative partnerships with regional countries' to combat terrorism and extremism.

The Pakistani leader 'expressed the hope that his forthcoming visit to Afghanistan would contribute to enhanced cooperation in the areas of security, counter-terrorism and economic development,' a foreign ministry statement said.