Pakistan has warned that the Taliban could spread beyond its borders to neighbouring India and as far as the Persian Gulf, unless it receives international aid to help battle militancy on its soil.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the foreign minister, in an interview with the Financial Times, said Pakistan would need up to $2.5bn (€1.8bn, £1.5bn) in emergency relief and for long-term reconstruction of the Swat valley and the surrounding region, once the fighting between government troops and militants, now in its final stage, had ended. That figure compares to the $1bn in aid initially estimated by government officials.