Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday reflecting on the absence of female journalists at his press conference said that it was a technical issue and that a set of invites were sent to specific journalists ahead of his Friday’s press interaction.
The press conference, organised at the Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi following bilateral talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Muttaqi, drew widespread criticism after women journalists claimed they were denied entry.
No joint press briefing was held after the official meeting between the two ministers and the Afghan side alone conducted a separate media interaction at its embassy premises.
Renowned senior female journalists flagged that they were not allowed to
enter the press interaction hosted by the Afghanistan embassy where Muttaqi spoke to reporters on Friday.
A section of the opposition also raised questions regarding women not being allowed.
The External Affairs Ministry said it did not have any involvement in the press interaction. “MEA had no involvement in the press interaction held yesterday by the Afghan FM in Delhi,” the ministry said in a statement.
Taliban government spokesperson Suhail Shaheen in an interaction with CNN-News18 Saturday reiterated that women journalists not being allowed was an “unintentional” act and that he would take up the matter with Muttaqi once he returned to Kabul.
#WATCH | Delhi | On the issue of women journalists not being invited to his presser two days ago, Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi says, "With regards to the press conference, it was on short notice and a short list of journalists was decided, and the participation… pic.twitter.com/zM8999yc0l
— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2025
“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,” Muttaqi said Sunday.
“It was more of 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,” he further added.