Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi faced intense backlash after the Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists policy was enforced at his initial press conference in New Delhi, prompting diplomatic tensions and forcing a second presser where women reporters confronted him directly about Afghanistan’s systematic suppression of women’s rights.
Key Highlights
- Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists policy sparked outrage during October 11 press conference, drawing condemnation from Indian opposition and press organizations
- Second presser held October 13 featured prominent women journalists questioning minister about Afghanistan’s education bans affecting 2.5 million girls
- Bilateral trade between India-Afghanistan reached $1.0087 billion in 2024-25, with India emerging as Afghanistan’s largest export destination despite diplomatic complexities
Initial Controversy Ignites Political Firestorm
The diplomatic incident unfolded when Muttaqi held his first press conference on October 11, 2025, at the Afghanistan Embassy in Delhi with exclusively male journalists present, effectively demonstrating how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists in practice. The exclusion immediately triggered condemnation from across India’s political spectrum, with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that by allowing “exclusion” of women scribes from a public forum, Modi was telling every woman in India that he is “too weak to stand up for them”.
Former Union Minister P Chidambaram expressed shock on social media, stating that male journalists should have walked out when they discovered their female colleagues were excluded. The Editors Guild of India and the Indian Women Press Corps termed the act as highly discriminatory, emphasizing that the Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists policy cannot be justified under diplomatic privilege provisions of the Vienna Convention.
For the Taliban women serve no purpose & are treated like broodmares. Far from calling them out on this ridiculous discrimination Indian government is pandering to their strange discriminatory demands of keeping press briefings off limits for women journos. This isn’t courtesy… pic.twitter.com/Y4Qn56CJf0
— Iltija Mufti (@IltijaMufti_) October 11, 2025
Damage Control Through Second Press Conference
Facing mounting pressure over how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists from official events, Taliban officials organized a second press conference on October 13, where women journalists were prominently seated and directly questioned Muttaqi about Afghanistan’s restrictive policies. During this session, prominent independent journalist Smita Sharma posed crucial questions about when Afghan women would be allowed to return to education and reclaim their rights. Muttaqi attempted to justify the initial exclusion as a “technical issue,” claiming the press conference was organized on short notice with a specific list of journalists invited by embassy officials.
He stated there were “no other intentions” behind the exclusion, while simultaneously defending Taliban policies by claiming they had never declared women’s education religiously “haram,” only postponed until further order. The minister’s explanations rang hollow given the broader context of how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists systematically across the country. The minister also claimed that 10 million students attend schools and institutes in Afghanistan, including over 2.8 million women and girls, though these figures contradict international reports about systematic educational exclusions.
India’s Strategic Diplomatic Balancing Act
The controversy emerged during Muttaqi’s historic week-long visit to India, marking the first overseas trip by a senior Taliban official since the group regained power in August 2021, bringing international attention to how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists globally. India’s Ministry of External Affairs clarified that it had no role in organizing the controversial press conference, emphasizing that invitations were sent by Afghanistan’s Consul General in Mumbai to select journalists stationed in Delhi. The ministry pointed out that the Afghan Embassy territory does not fall under Indian government jurisdiction, effectively distancing itself from the exclusion decision.
This diplomatic visit represents India’s pragmatic approach to engagement with the Taliban, driven by strategic interests to counter Pakistani influence in Afghanistan and maintain regional stability, despite concerns about how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists undermines press freedom. According to the India-Afghanistan Joint Statement released on October 10, 2025, both nations agreed to deepen cooperation in healthcare, infrastructure development, and capacity-building, with India committing to construct multiple medical facilities and provide 20 ambulances to Afghanistan.
Broader Context of Afghanistan’s Women Rights Crisis
The incident highlighted Afghanistan’s deteriorating women’s rights situation, which the United Nations has characterized as “gender apartheid”, exemplified by how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists from practicing their profession. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Afghanistan has become the only country globally where girls are prohibited from attending secondary school and universities. Human Rights Watch reports indicate that the situation worsened in 2024, with the Taliban intensifying their crackdown on human rights, particularly against women and girls, including policies where Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists from covering news events.
UN data reveals that at least 1.4 million girls have been “intentionally denied” their right to education during the Taliban’s three-year rule, with approximately 2.5 million girls of school age currently deprived of educational opportunities. Despite these restrictions, a nationwide UN survey of over 2,000 Afghans found that more than 90 percent support girls’ right to education. The Taliban’s August 2024 “vice and virtue law” further restricted women’s freedom by banning their voices from being heard in public and preventing travel without male guardians, while empowering “morality inspectors” to detain violators, reinforcing the systematic approach of how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists and other female professionals.
Economic Ties Amid Political Tensions
Despite diplomatic complexities stemming from policies where Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists and restricts fundamental rights, India-Afghanistan economic relations have demonstrated remarkable resilience, with bilateral trade surpassing $1 billion in the 2024-25 financial year. India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry data shows imports from Afghanistan reached $689.81 million, marking a 7.4 percent year-on-year increase, while Indian exports totaled $318.91 million. India has emerged as Afghanistan’s largest export destination, primarily driven by imports of agricultural products including dried fruits, nuts, and medicinal herbs.
India’s zero-tariff regime on Afghan goods has proven crucial in enabling continued market access for small-scale Afghan producers, with many farmers reportedly shifting from illicit opium cultivation to alternative crops supported by reliable Indian demand. The new India-Afghanistan Air Freight Corridor, launched during Muttaqi’s visit, is expected to streamline connectivity and further boost bilateral trade relations, even as concerns persist about how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists affects the country’s international reputation. However, Afghanistan’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, with 23 million people requiring assistance and half the population living in poverty, continues to challenge economic recovery efforts.
Closing Assessment
The diplomatic row over women journalists’ exclusion from the Taliban minister’s press conference exposed the complex contradictions inherent in India’s engagement-without-recognition approach toward Afghanistan, particularly regarding how Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists from participating in public discourse. While the incident temporarily strained diplomatic protocols and sparked domestic political controversy, it ultimately demonstrated the limitations of the Taliban’s international charm offensive amid their systematic suppression of women’s rights.
The forced inclusion of female journalists in the second press conference, where they directly challenged the minister about Afghanistan’s restrictive policies, highlighted both the resilience of democratic institutions and the ongoing struggle for women’s rights in the region. As India continues to balance strategic interests with human rights concerns, the incident serves as a stark reminder that economic partnerships cannot fully insulate diplomatic relations from the moral complexities of engaging with authoritarian regimes where Afghanistan Taliban bans women journalists and systematically excludes half their population from public life.
