Supporters of a Pakistani Islamic student group Islami Jamiat Talaba chant slogans during a rally against the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Lahore. -AP Photo

ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Pakistan to personally deliver a blunt Obama administration demand that Pakistani authorities step up counterterror efforts against insurgents operating on the border with Afghanistan.

Clinton arrived in Islamabad on Thursday from Afghanistan, where she pointedly told Pakistan that it must be part of the solution to the Afghan conflict.

She says the US expects the Pakistani government, military and intelligence services to take the lead in not only fighting Pakistan-based militants but also in encouraging Afghan militants to reconcile with Afghan society.

Clinton is leading a high-level US delegation in Pakistan that includes CIA chief David Petraeus and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey. She said the team would ''push Pakistan very hard'' on the matter.