Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani visited Islamabad on Thursday, proposing the creation of a Pakistan-Syria Joint Business Council and a joint investment forum in Damascus to boost direct engagement between the two countries' private sectors. Meeting with Pakistan's Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, al-Shaibani identified housing, energy, agriculture, and transportation among key sectors for collaboration, noting that current bilateral trade falls well short of the two nations' potential. The visit — the first by a Syrian foreign minister since 2007 and the first since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government in 2024 — also saw Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirm Pakistan's support for Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, including its position on the Golan Heights (a strategic plateau seized and annexed by Israel), and extend an invitation to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Pakistan.