MEA denies involvement in Afghan FM Muttaqi’s presser that excluded women journalists

The Ministry of External Affairs announced on Saturday, October 11, 2025 that visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was not present at the press interaction held in New Delhi on Friday, October 10.

The statement came after the oppressor came under heavy criticism for the exclusion of female journalists. Accordingly PTI, IIt was learned that the decision to invite journalists to media interaction was taken by Taliban officials accompanying the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“MEA had no involvement in the press conference held by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Delhi yesterday,” the ministry said in a statement on Saturday (October 11).

Reacting to the news, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called the incident an “insult to some of India’s most empowered women”.

The Congress general secretary said that if the Prime Minister’s recognition of women’s rights was not just a matter of taking a favorable stance from one election to the next, how could it be that “some of India’s most empowered women are allowed to be insulted in our country?”

The press conference was held at the Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi following bilateral talks between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Mr. Muttaqi. There was no joint press conference after the official meeting between the two ministers, and the Afghan side held a separate media interaction at the embassy building alone.

Former Union Home Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram also expressed shock and disappointment and said male journalists should walk out in solidarity with their female colleagues. Mr Chidambaram said in a post on

The Taliban regime in Kabul has faced serious criticism from various countries as well as global organizations such as the United Nations for restricting the rights of women in Afghanistan.

On Friday, Mottaki did not answer a direct question about the situation of women in Afghanistan, but said each country has its own traditions, laws and principles and these must be respected.

With input from agencies