Overview

• Women journalists say they were denied entry to Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s press interaction at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi on 10 October, which a small group of male reporters attended.
• India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on 11 October it had no involvement in the embassy event and noted there was no joint media briefing after Muttaqi’s meeting with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
• PTI and other outlets reported that Taliban officials accompanying Muttaqi controlled the invite list, while a Taliban spokesperson later described the absence of female journalists as unintentional.
• Opposition leaders, the Editors Guild of India and the Indian Women Press Corps condemned the exclusion and pressed the government to explain how it occurred on Indian soil.
• During the visit, India announced it will upgrade its technical mission in Kabul to a full embassy, and Muttaqi deflected questions on Afghan women’s rights by invoking respect for national customs.