Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday for a two-day visit, marking the first trip by Syria’s top diplomat to Pakistan in 19 years as Damascus seeks to deepen ties with the country.
Al-Shaibani arrived at the head of a high-level delegation and is expected to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, as well as the country’s defence and commerce ministers.
Talks are expected to focus on defence cooperation, economic ties and regional security, including developments in Syria and the wider Middle East.
The visit is the first by a Syrian foreign minister to Pakistan since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The last such visit took place in May 2007.
Pakistan and Syria have maintained political and military ties for decades, including through military training exchanges. Islamabad also kept its embassy in Damascus open throughout the Syrian conflict and maintained diplomatic representation following Assad’s removal.
However, the two countries currently lack a broad formal framework governing bilateral cooperation.
Al-Shaibani’s visit comes as Syria’s new leadership seeks to rebuild diplomatic relationships and expand regional partnerships following more than a decade of war and international isolation under Assad.
For Pakistan, the talks provide an opportunity to build on longstanding ties with Damascus at a time of significant political and security changes across the Middle East.
Further details on agreements or initiatives emerging from the visit are expected following al-Shaibani’s meetings with Pakistani officials.
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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
Four million workers across Spain joined a general strike on Wednesday over the country’s deepening housing crisis, unions said, bringing disruption to factories, ports, shops and public transport just weeks before a snap general election.
Iran has unveiled a new underground missile and drone base, warning that it will respond forcefully to any attack, as tensions persist with the U.S. and oil tankers continue to be struck by naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran will not let a single particle of its enriched nuclear material leave the country, and any new U.S. attack would be met with strikes on distant American bases, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei has said.
Kazakhstan’s security service has arrested Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of Samruk-Kazyna, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, on suspicion of corruption. Yelzhas Otynshiyev, Chairman of KTZ, Kazakhstan’s national railway firm has also been detained.
An Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza has killed at least six people, including a surgeon, and wounded 20 others, according to Gaza’s civil defence service.
The competitiveness of international trade depends on how efficiently goods move across borders. These issues are in focus at the 22nd International Exhibition of Transport and Logistics – TransLogistica Uzbekistan 2026, taking place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 10 to 12 November.
Armenia has been stripped of its voting rights in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) over unpaid membership fees, in another sign of the deteriorating relationship between Yerevan and Moscow.
Pakistan is pushing for urgent global action and greater climate funding as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attends COP31 in Türkiye, warning that melting glaciers, devastating floods and extreme heat are putting millions of lives and livelihoods at risk.
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