Mexico City  - US President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico Thursday for an overnight visit to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa welcomed Obama at Mexico City's international airport. Obama immediately helicoptered to the presidential residence Los Pinosto to join Calderon.

Regular activity was suspended for 35 minutes at the airport around the landing of Air Force One.

This is the first visit to Mexico City by a US president since then-president Bill Clinton in 1997.

Discussions are set to focus on drug trafficking and violent crime, as the death toll in Mexico's drug wars has soared to more than 7,000 since January 2008.

The United States government has conceded in recent weeks that the two countries share responsibility in the issue, with drugs flowing north and weapons flowing south.

From Mexico, Obama is to fly Friday to Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas. (dpa)