ISLAMABAD — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Pakistan on Monday to press the country’s leadership to step up the fight against extremists and eliminate safe havens for terror groups along the Afghan border.

He was welcomed by Pakistan’s foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz and headed directly into meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Kerry is making the case for more robust efforts against all extremist groups in the country, particularly after last month’s devastating Taliban attack on a Peshawar school that killed 150 people, most of them children.

Pakistan has boosted operations against violent extremists in its recent months, notably following the Peshawar attack that stunned the nation. But U.S. officials traveling with Kerry said Washington wants to ensure that there is a “real and sustained effort” to limit the abilities of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani Network and Laskhar e Tayyiba, which pose direct threats to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, as well as to American interests.

Underscoring the importance of the security aspect of Kerry’s trip, he was being joined in his meetings with Gen. Lloyd Austin, the chief of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and South Asia.