Taliban foreign minister blames 'technical issue' for excluding women journalists from Delhi presser

Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has said the absence of women journalists at his recent press conference in Delhi was due to a “technical issue” and not a deliberate move.

“With regards to the press conference, it was on short notice and a short list of journalists was decided, and the participation list that was presented was very specific. It was more a technical issue... Our colleagues had decided to send an invitation to a specific list of journalists and there was no other intention apart from this,” Muttaqi said, responding to criticism over the all-male press event.

The press conference, held earlier this week at the Afghan Embassy, triggered backlash from media groups and civil society for the apparent exclusion of female reporters. While defending the move, Muttaqi later held a second presser in Delhi that included women journalists in attendance.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs distanced itself from the controversy, clarifying that it had no involvement in the invitation process for the event.

The controversy erupted after multiple senior women journalists said they were denied entry to the Afghan Embassy for the media briefing, which was held without a joint appearance by the Indian and Afghan foreign ministers. The Afghan side conducted the press conference independently, following bilateral talks between Amir Khan Muttaqi and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

Muttaqi’s explanation — offered two days later — was intended to address the backlash over the absence of women, but it has done little to dispel concerns over the Taliban regime’s ongoing curbs on women’s participation in public and official forums.

The incident has renewed scrutiny of the Taliban’s record on press freedom and gender rights. Since returning to power in 2021, the regime has imposed sweeping restrictions on women in Afghanistan, forcing many journalists out of work or into exile. The exclusion in Delhi, though explained away as a logistical error, has been seen by observers as reflective of the broader erosion of women's visibility in public life under Taliban rule.