‘No involvement’: MEA distances itself after women journalists barred from Afghan FM’s presser

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday sought to distance itself from the controversy surrounding Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s press conference in New Delhi, where women journalists were reportedly excluded from attending.

In a statement, the MEA clarified that it had “no involvement in the press interaction held yesterday by the Afghan Foreign Minister in Delhi.”

Officials clarified that no joint media briefing was held following the meeting between Muttaqi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Instead, the Afghan side independently organized a separate press event at its embassy.

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During the event, which was attended only by select male journalists and Afghan embassy officials, Muttaqi spoke on a range of issues, including bilateral relations, humanitarian aid, trade routes, and regional security cooperation.

The exclusion of women journalists from the press conference has sparked outrage among several opposition leaders.

Senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram condemned the incident. He suggested that male journalists should have walked out when they found out that their women colleagues were excluded.

In a post on X, he said, “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).”

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra raised concerns and demanded clarity from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

In a post on X, she said, ” Prime Minister 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 the other, then how has this insult to some of India’s most competent women been allowed in our country, a country whose women are its backbone and its pride.”

Muttaqi is a member of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, a regime known for imposing severe restrictions on women, effectively preventing them from working.

Muttaqi, who arrived in India on Thursday, met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday in what is being seen as a significant reset in bilateral ties. During the meeting, India announced that its technical mission in Kabul would be upgraded to a full-fledged embassy, a move welcomed by the Afghan foreign minister.

“India is fully committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Afghanistan. I am pleased to announce the upgrading of India’s Technical Mission to the status of an embassy,” Jaishankar said.