KABUL - The Afghan government will not sign a strategic pact with Islamabad unless it is clear that Pakistan poses no threat to Afghanistan, foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul said Sunday.

A week after meeting Pakistani government and security officials in London, Rassoul said that the government will ensure that Afghanistan's conditions are very clear for the peace deal proposed at the trilateral summit between Britain, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

"The agreement was addressed at the London conference. However, as long as Pakistan shows no sign of honest cooperation to provide peace and sustainability, and there is no trust gained from our people, there will be no such agreement signed," he told TOLOnews.

"But, of course, we assure there will be no danger of Afghanistan posing threat to Pakistan," he added.

This comes as reports that the Assembly of Islamic Clerics (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam) sent the general secretary and president, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman, to Qatar on Saturday for talks with the Taliban – a visit taken seemingly at the behest of the Taliban.

The government of Pakistan has not yet confirmed whether these reports are correct.

Rassoul dismissed the significance of such reports saying it did not matter whether Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman has travelled to Qatar or not.

"The Qatar office is only for direct talks with Taliban and it will not be a political office [of government] for them. It is not important which Maulana has travelled to Qatar. The office has not opened yet, but we are in dialogues with government of Qatar to open the office," he said.

Neighboring Pakistan has long been accused of allowing insurgents safe-havens in the country's west – near the border with Afghanistan. So its role in the peace process is important. (Tolo News)