MEA Denies Involvement, Opposition Criticises Exclusion of Women Journalists from Taliban Minister’s Press Conference

India has claimed that it had no role in the arrangement of the press conference with Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, where female journalists were not "allowed" to attend.

“The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had no involvement in the press interaction held yesterday by the Afghan FM in Delhi,” officials said on Saturday.

Opposition leaders criticised the Indian government after women journalists were reportedly excluded from a press conference of the visiting Foreign Minister in New Delhi. The event, held at the Afghan embassy following meetings with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, saw participation limited to a handful of reporters, with no women present. According to PTI, the decision on the invitees was taken by Taliban officials accompanying Muttaqi, although the Indian side had suggested that women journalists should be included.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify his position on the matter, describing the exclusion as “an insult to some of India’s most competent women.” She said in a post on X, “If your recognition of women’s rights isn’t just convenient posturing from one election to the other, how has this insult to some of India’s most competent women been allowed in our country?”. Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram called the exclusion “shocking” and suggested that male journalists should have walked out in protest. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that while engagement with the Taliban may be geopolitically necessary, acceding to their discriminatory practices was “outright ridiculous” and “disappointing,” PTI reported.

Rahul Gandhi also criticised the government, stating that Modi’s silence in the face of such exclusion “exposes the emptiness of his slogans on Nari Shakti,” and indicated that it sent the message that the prime minister was “too weak to stand up” for women in India.

Leaders from other opposition parties also condemned the incident. Trinamool Congress MPs Mahua Moitra and Sagarika Ghose accused the government of failing to separate engagement from endorsement, while RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha described the exclusion as a compromise of India’s moral and diplomatic standing. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi highlighted the symbolic backdrop of the Bamiyan Buddhas at the press conference, calling it ironic in light of the Indian government’s recognition of Afghanistan. PTI reported that the Congress party and its leaders used social media to demand accountability from the Modi government, questioning why the government agreed to what they described as a “men-only” diktat.

During the press conference, Muttaqi sidestepped questions on the situation of women in Afghanistan, stating that “every country has its own customs, laws and principles,” and claimed that the overall situation in Afghanistan had improved since the Taliban came to power in August 2021. He cited lower daily fatalities compared with the pre-Taliban period and asserted that “laws are in force and everyone has their rights,” PTI reported.

The Taliban regime has faced international criticism, including from the United Nations, for restricting women’s rights in Afghanistan.