Syria foreign minister to visit Pakistan, source says

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani is due to travel to Islamabad on August 19 for a two-day visit, a diplomatic source in Damascus said Tuesday.

The source said Shaibani would visit Pakistan at the invitation of Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Shaibani is expected to meet Sharif and Pakistan's defence and commerce ministers.

The source said it would be the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in 2024, although other Syrian ministers had visited Islamabad since then.

The source said there was currently no formal cooperation between Syria and Pakistan, but that defence, economic cooperation and reconciliation were among the issues planned for discussion.

Before Assad's fall, Damascus and Islamabad had close relations, including reciprocal visits, political and military cooperation and training exchanges. After the Syrian civil war began in 2011, Pakistan rejected foreign military intervention and attempts to overthrow Assad by force, while saying it supported Syria's unity and sovereignty. Islamabad kept its embassy in Damascus open after Assad's overthrow.