British forces will stay in Afghanistan “until the job is done”, Tony Blair promised yesterday, amid warnings of a Taleban spring offensive.

After talks at Downing Street with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, Mr Blair said that British troops were performing magnificently in tough conditions and “we are not going to do anything other than ensure this job is done”.

The friendship shown by Mr Blair and Mr Karzai after the talks masked recent tension over what Kabul regarded as Britain’s refusal to acknowledge the role of Pakistani elements in supporting the Taleban. It has been alleged that Britain’s historic relationship with Pakistan meant it turned a blind eye to Pakistani infiltration.

Mr Blair also said: “We want to see improved security on the Afghan-Pakistan border the whole time; that’s the purpose of the continuing dialogue we have with Pakistan. And we’ve got a tremendous interest in that, too, because it’s British soldiers who are fighting in the south of Afghanistan, precisely in order to make sure that this terrorism can’t come back.”

The talks came after Lieutenant-General David Richards, the British former commander of Nato forces gave warning of a rise in Taleban activity but said that there were enough troops — 39,000 — to “contain” the situation. “There will be an upsurge in violence because there has to be or else they have failed,” he said.

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