LONDON, Feb 2: Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta has warned Pakistan against ‘nursing hegemonic ambitious towards Afghanistan’ and advised Islamabad to stop ‘using terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy’.

Talking to Dawn in an exclusive interview Mr Spanta who is here on his first visit to UK repeated the usual Afghan allegations against Pakistan and said some circles in Pakistan in their self-interest were out to destabilize Afghanistan “because they subscribe to a hegemonic policy against us which is a continuation from the days of Taliban.”

He asked Pakistan to reduce and control what he termed as cross-border terrorism and to stop financing terrorist cells which he said were being used to train the terrorists.

He said Afghanistan had been discussing with Pakistan about this matter to remove all the misunderstandings and misperceptions, “we want to be friend of Pakistan, we are ready to open all our roads. Today our bilateral trade has reached over a billion dollars whereas during the Taliban days it was only $23 million.”

He said a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan and the region, but warned once again:” There is no chance of Afghanistan accepting the hegemony of another country.”