'Had no role': Centre amid controversy over no women journalists at Taliban foreign minister’s press meet

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi (File photo: ANI)

Amid a row over exclusion of women journalists from a press conference held by Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi, the government on Saturday clarified that it had no role in the event.

“The Ministry of External Affairs had no involvement in the press interaction held yesterday by the Afghan foreign minister in Delhi,” the ministry said in a statement.

The press conference held at the Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi on Friday, following talks between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Amir Khan Muttaqi, sparked outrage after women journalists alleged they were barred from attending.

Several opposition leaders expressed shock and disappointment over the gender bias on Indian soil.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to X on Saturday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi clarify his position on the incident.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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," she asked.

Former union home minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also expressed shock and disappointment, saying 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)," Chidambaram said in a post on X.

Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram also criticised the government, calling the exclusion "outright ridiculous."

During the press conference, Muttaqi addressed regional issues, including India-Afghanistan relations, humanitarian assistance, trade routes, and security cooperation. Only selected male journalists and officials of Afghan embassy attended the presser.