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New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki on Friday held a restrictive press conference at the Afghan Embassy premises in New Delhi, while no female journalists, who were informally invited for the press conference, were allowed.
There was a huge reaction on social media over the ban on women journalists.
Muttaqi reached the capital on Thursday and held talks with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, where they discussed India’s support to Afghanistan’s development, bilateral trade, territorial integrity and people-to-people relations and capacity building, among many other issues.
However, the press conference held by Muttaki at the Afghan Embassy later at 3.30 pm was not open to the wider media fraternity, and did not even include women journalists.
Despite being an important diplomatic engagement – especially given India’s cautious stance on the Taliban, with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar announcing the upgrading of India’s technical mission in Kabul to embassy status, most journalists were neither informed nor granted access.
The Afghan embassy in Delhi is being run by Charge d’Affaires Mohammad Ibrahimkhail of the then Ashraf Ghani administration, while the consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad are already under Taliban control.
The journalists who attended this press conference, on the condition of anonymity, told IANS that they were informed about this press conference in the morning itself.
Similarly, questions have been raised over the restrictive media access given to journalists, as only 15-16 media persons attended the conference.
According to the information, Taliban officer Ikramuddin Kamil, who has been the head of Afghanistan’s Mumbai Consulate since last year, himself reached these selected journalists through a phone call and gave them an informal invitation.
At the same time, women journalists have also expressed their displeasure over not inviting any female journalist.
Cherry-picking of journalists as well as selective outreach by Muttaki’s media team has drawn criticism in press circles, who argue that restricting coverage of such important developments undermines transparency and prevents broader media scrutiny of India’s growing ties with the Taliban leadership.
–IANS
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