MEA denies role in 'no women journalists' at Afghan FM Muttaqi’s presser

India on Saturday said it had no role in the press conference held by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in New Delhi on Friday after the event sparked outrage for excluding women journalists.

“The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had no involvement in the press interaction held yesterday by the Afghan minister in Delhi,” officials said on Saturday. The exclusion of women journalists triggered a significant backlash on social media and from opposition leaders.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised PM Narendra Modi, saying, “When you allow the exclusion of women journalists from a public forum, you are telling every woman in India that you are too weak to stand up for them.”

“In our country, women have the right to equal participation in every space. Your silence in the face of such discrimination exposes the emptiness of your slogans on Nari Shakti,” he added.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked the PM to clarify his position on the “insult” to the incident. She asked how “insult to some of India’s most competent women was allowed”.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra accused the government of dishonouring every Indian woman by allowing the “Taliban minister to exclude women journalists.”

Muttaqi’s visit is the first by a Taliban Foreign Minister to India since the group seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.