Overview

• Women journalists were not invited to Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s press interaction at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi, held hours after his meeting with S. Jaishankar.
• The Ministry of External Affairs stated it had no involvement in the embassy event and noted there was no joint press briefing following the bilateral talks.
• People familiar with the matter said Taliban officials decided the invite list, with reporting that the Indian side had suggested women journalists be included.
• Opposition leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and P. Chidambaram, condemned the exclusion and pressed the government for an explanation, with calls for male reporters to have walked out.
• An Afghan Taliban spokesperson later called the absence of women ‘unintentional’ and said Muttaqi regularly engages with female journalists in Kabul.