Taliban foreign minister holds press conference with female journalists in India

Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi held a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, where women journalists were present, following criticism over their absence at his first briefing on Friday.

Many female journalists sat in the front row during Sunday's event, the second press conference by Muttaqi in three days.

Responding to the criticism, Muttaqi said there had been no intention to exclude women from Friday's press briefing. "The press conference was called at short notice. The participation list was prepared with specific journalists, and it was neither a technical issue nor any deliberate exclusion," he told reporters.

The Editors Guild of India and the Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC) had strongly condemned the earlier event, describing it as "blatant gender discrimination on Indian soil".

In a statement, the Guild said, "Whether or not the MEA [Ministry of External Affairs] coordinated the event, it is deeply troubling that such a discriminatory exclusion was allowed to proceed without objection."

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning his government's stance on women's rights. Priyanka said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modiji, 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."

Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, said women in India have the right to equal participation in every space, adding that Modi's silence "exposes the emptiness" of his slogans on women's empowerment.

Indian media quoted an unnamed official from the External Affairs Ministry as saying the government had no role in organising Friday's press conference.