Syrian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in first trip since 2007

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday evening for a two-day official visit at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, according to a Foreign Ministry source who spoke to Anadolu on condition of anonymity. The visit, which will extend through August 20, represents the most senior diplomatic mission from Damascus to Islamabad since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in December 2024 and marks the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister to Pakistan in nearly two decades, signaling a potential thaw in relations that had cooled during Syria's prolonged civil conflict.

Al-Shaibani is expected to hold substantive discussions with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior ministers alongside his formal talks with Dar, as the new Syrian administration under President Sharaa seeks to consolidate international partnerships and secure humanitarian support following the dramatic transition from Assad's authoritarian rule. The last Syrian foreign minister to visit Pakistan was Walid al-Mouallem, who traveled to Islamabad in May 2007, making this week's trip a significant milestone in the resumption of high-level political contact between the two Muslim-majority nations that have historically emphasized solidarity on international forums.

Economic and defense cooperation agenda

The timing of the visit follows months of renewed diplomatic engagement, including a Pakistani delegation's meeting with Al-Shaibani in Damascus last June and a March telephone conversation between Prime Minister Sharif and President Sharaa regarding the escalating tensions across the Middle East. Islamabad on Wednesday "strongly" condemned an unprovoked Israeli attack on the Abu al-Duhur Airbase in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, a position that reflects the shared security concerns likely to dominate discussions between the foreign ministers as they assess regional threats.

Officials from both sides are expected to explore concrete avenues for reviving and expanding bilateral cooperation across economic and defense sectors, building on a foundation of military training exchanges and diplomatic ties that were formally established in December 1949, just two years after Pakistan's creation. Despite these longstanding connections, bilateral trade currently remains modest at approximately $8.49 million, while Pakistan's Embassy in Damascus has remained operational throughout the post-Assad transition, maintaining a diplomatic presence that diplomats from both capitals hope will facilitate a substantial increase in commercial exchange and strategic coordination.