A press conference held by Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, at the Afghan Embassy in New Delhi has sparked a major political and gender rights controversy after women journalists were reportedly barred from attending the event on Thursday.

Muttaqi, who represents the Taliban government, is currently on a week-long visit to India from October 9 to October 16, marking the first high-level Taliban delegation to India since the group took power in Kabul in August 2021.

Political leaders express outrage

The exclusion of female journalists from the press interaction drew sharp criticism from Indian political leaders.

Former Union Minister P. Chidambaram described the move as “shocking” and urged male journalists to show solidarity by walking out of the briefing.

“I

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