Women Reporters Earlier Absence Unintentional: Taliban Minister

• More than a dozen female journalists went to an event where the Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was present to make comments to the press on Sunday
• Amir Khan said that women were not purposely left out of a previous event two days before

More than a dozen women journalists showed up to a press conference on Sunday hosted by Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who said their absence at the previous interaction two days prior, was not intentional.

The criticism came after the exclusion of women journalists from the first news conference on Friday, which had prompted ire among India's opposition parties and journalists' associations. This visit is notable as Amir Khan is the first senior Taliban official to visit India.

At the Sunday gathering, a foreign journalist inquired about the lack of women journalists on Friday. Amir Khan explained that their process for the Friday press briefing was very sudden and that there were a limited number of journalists available.

The foreign minister dismissed the previous meeting as a "technical issue" rather than a purposeful effort to exclude women journalists. He further noted that the invites were sent only to the particular journalists, not with any other aim, and in some cases, the particular journalist either "declined to attend anyway" or "left early."

Newspaper stories displayed the outrage from opposition leaders in India when they clearly stated that the lack of women journalists was insupportable and just plain insulting to women.

The media organizations expressed condemnation of the Afghan foreign minister, and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs contributed that it was "not responsible for the Friday event."

At the Sunday press conference, female journalists asked about the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan with respect to their exclusion from educational and occupational opportunities.

Amir Khan responded by saying that Afghanistan is an Islamic government protecting the rights of all citizens according to Islamic law, including men, women, and foreigners. He also asserted the Taliban’s control of Afghanistan demonstrates that their policies are working.

Inside the Afghan embassy, where the press conference was held, a large black-and-white flag of the Islamic Emirate, the Taliban’s official name, prominently hung on the wall while the flag of the former Afghan republic stood off to the side outside the embassy building.

When asked about the flag and why India does not recognize the Taliban regime formally, Amir Khan stated that the Islamic Emirate flag means victory and control. He stated that the embassy is fully under the Taliban's control, and previous government officials now work in the present administration.

Amir Khan is visiting for six days. He said that relations have been slowly growing over the past four years since the Taliban took office in August 2022.

He said that India’s Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, indicated India would be upgrading its technical mission in Kabul to that of an embassy, would change its diplomats, and that relations would slowly normalize.