Indian journalists complain they were barred from press conference held by Afghan minister in Delhi

Several journalists on Friday said that women reporters were not invited to the press conference held by Taliban-ruled Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi on Friday. They said that the decision was “unacceptable”.

Muttaqi arrived in the country earlier in the day and met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar – the highest bilateral contact between India and the Taliban since 2021.

He held a press conference at the Afghanistan embassy in New Delhi on Friday evening to share details about his trip to India.

Several journalists on social media pointed out how no women reporters were invited to the press conference.

Images shared by Hafiz Zia Ahmad, the director of public communication for Afghanistan’s foreign ministry, on social media also showed no women reporters present during the press conference.

همدا مهال: د ا.ا.ا. بهرنیو چارو وزیر محترم مولوي امیرخان متقي د هند هیواد پلازمینه نوي ډهلي کي د افغان سفارت په مقر کې، هند ته د خپل سفر په اړه له رسنیو سره د پریس کانفرانس له لارې جزئیات شریکوي. pic.twitter.com/BORpNGdFzK— Hafiz Zia Ahmad (@HafizZiaAhmad) October 10, 2025

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has been accused of severe human rights abuses, especially against women and minorities.

A month after the insurgent group retook power, it banned education for girls above class six in September 2021, claiming...

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