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Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani is set to arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday evening for a two-day visit to Pakistan, a Pakistani Foreign Ministry source told Anadolu.
Shaibani will visit Pakistan from Aug. 19–20 at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The trip will mark the highest-level visit by a Syrian official to Pakistan since the overthrow of Bashar Assad in 2024, although other Syrian ministers have visited Islamabad since then.
It will also be the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister to Pakistan in 19 years.
The last Syrian foreign minister to visit Pakistan was Walid al-Mouallem, who traveled to Islamabad in May 2007.
Shaibani is also expected to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other ministers.
A Pakistani delegation met Shaibani in Damascus in June last year.
In March, Sharif discussed the escalation in the Middle East with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa during a phone call.
Shaibani was appointed foreign minister under Sharaa’s administration following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
His visit comes as Islamabad on Wednesday strongly condemned what it called an unprovoked attack by Israeli forces on the Abu al-Duhur Airbase in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
The two sides are expected to discuss ways to revive and expand cooperation in various fields, including the economy and defense, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry source.
Islamabad and Damascus have maintained relations for decades, including military cooperation and training exchanges.
Pakistan’s Embassy in Damascus remained open after Assad’s overthrow, although bilateral cooperation between the two countries has remained limited over the past two years.
Pakistan and Syria formally established diplomatic relations in December 1949, two years after Pakistan’s creation.
Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Syria remains modest, totaling nearly $8.49 million.
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