GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 11th Oct: India on Saturday clarified that it had no involvement in organising the press conference addressed by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi, which sparked outrage after women journalists were allegedly barred from attending.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the invitations for the event were sent by the Afghan Consul General in Mumbai to select journalists. It added that the Afghanistan Embassy premises do not fall under Indian government jurisdiction.
The controversy erupted after reports emerged that no women were allowed at the Friday press meet held inside the Afghan Embassy. Several female journalists took to social media alleging that they were stopped from entering the venue, despite adhering to the prescribed dress code.
The Taliban regime has long faced global criticism for curbing women’s rights, including bans on education, employment, and even female-authored books in universities. Recently, 18 academic courses related to women’s studies, human rights, and constitutional law were also scrapped from Afghan universities.
Political reactions followed swiftly in India. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “clarify” how “such an insult to India’s competent women” was permitted.
Prime Minister @narendramodi ji, please clarify your position on the removal of female journalists from the press conference of the representative of the Taliban on his visit to India.
If your recognition of women’s rights isn’t just convenient posturing from one election to…
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) October 11, 2025
Former minister P. Chidambaram said male journalists should have walked out in solidarity with their female colleagues.
I am shocked that women journalists were excluded from the press conference addressed by Mr Amir Khan Muttaqi of Afghanistan
In my personal view, the men journalists should have walked out when they found that their women colleagues were excluded (or not invited)
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) October 11, 2025
Muttaqi, who arrived in India on Thursday, met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday. Their discussions marked a thaw in bilateral ties, with Jaishankar announcing that India’s Technical Mission in Kabul would be upgraded to a full-fledged embassy.
“India is fully committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Afghanistan,” Jaishankar said, adding that New Delhi remains invested in Afghanistan’s development through multiple ongoing and upcoming projects.
