Hillary’s arrival on Wednesday on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan follows several high profile attacks in the Afghan capital, including an assault on the US embassy in September and days later the assassination of Karzai's top peace envoy, former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.
"She wants to signal US support for a secure and stable Afghanistan," a senior US official told reporters travelling with Hillary.
"She wants to emphasise that the United States remains committed to Afghan reconciliation and will support President Karzai in his efforts, recognising the difficulties that process has undergone since the assassination of Rabbani."
The visit comes as Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States all see strains in their relations, complicating the outlook as the Obama administration pushes ahead with plans to draw down troops and turn over security responsibility to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.
Efforts to reach a political solution to a conflict now over a decade old will be on Hillary's agenda, along with support for Afghans as they step up their own security work, the official said.
Hillary will meet Karzai and other Afghan officials, US officials said, and hold a round-table meeting with non-government leaders and civil society activists. She will also hold a joint news conference with the Afghan President.
US officials said Hillary would also discuss the future "strategic partnership" between Afghanistan and the United States after 2014, with an eye to eventually formalising the alliance.
"She'll want to point to that as a signal to Afghans, to the region, that the United States will remain committed to Afghanistan beyond 2014."
Hillary is expected to preview plans for conferences on the future of Afghanistan due to be held in Istanbul in November and Bonn in December which US officials hope will tighten international cooperation on political and economic strategies to stabilise the country.
She is also expected to discuss ties between Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan, accused by officials in both Afghanistan and the United States with working to undercut the US-led military campaign in order to protect its influence in the region.
Ties between Kabul and Islamabad have been particularly strained since the assassination of Rabbani, who was killed by a suicide bomber posing as a Taliban reconciliation envoy.
Many Afghans, including senior officials, have accused the Pakistan government of having links to the killing, and accused their neighbour of fomenting instability to further its own political interests. Pakistan denies this.
Karzai has been more circumspect, but hinted after the killing that he had lost hope in pursuing peace talks with the Taliban and suggested negotiations with Pakistan instead.
Top US officials have also accused Pakistan of supporting insurgent groups in Afghanistan after September's 20-hour attack on diplomatic targets in Kabul, including the US embassy.
But President Barack Obama and Hillary have both stressed that the US relationship with Pakistan is too important to abandon, although Hillary said last week if Islamabad did not help solve Afghanistan's difficulties it would "continue to be part of the problem”.
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