Two days after drawing sharp criticism for barring women reporters from a press event in Delhi, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi held a second conference on Sunday, this time before an inclusive audience that included women journalists seated in the front rows.
Muttaqi dismissed the earlier exclusion as unintentional, stating that it occurred only because of short notice.
He said the participation list had been prepared in advance and described the matter as a “technical issue” rather than a deliberate act. The Taliban leader emphasised that there was no intention to exclude women from the interaction.
The second press briefing took place in a larger hall compared to the cramped setting of the first event, which had been held at the Afghan embassy. The Taliban appeared to make a conscious effort to project its symbols more prominently this time, with a small flag placed on the table in front of Muttaqi and a full-sized one displayed behind him.
When asked about the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s higher education in Afghanistan, Muttaqi avoided giving a direct answer. Instead, he pointed to what he described as improvements in national security over the past four years.
He stated that Afghanistan operated under Islamic rule, where everyone’s rights — including those of women — were protected. He added that the Taliban had not declared education for women to be religiously forbidden but said that it had been “postponed until the second order.”
Muttaqi claimed that of the country’s 10 million students, 2.8 million were girls, and that women were allowed to study up to graduation in religious seminaries. He said there were certain limitations in specific areas, but denied that the Taliban opposed education.
When further pressed on the matter, Muttaqi reiterated that the Taliban had restored peace after decades of conflict. He said the administration had pardoned many who had previously been punished and that even those who had harmed the Afghan people were now living freely in Kabul. He added that he personally moved around the city without security as an example of improved stability.
His comments came weeks after UN Special Representative Roza Otunbayeva told the UN Security Council that the continued closure of girls’ schools beyond grade six — now in its fourth year — had put an entire generation at risk, with serious long-term consequences for Afghan society.
Muttaqi also addressed questions about the status of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi, asserting that it was now fully under the control of the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate. He said that even those who had previously fought against the Taliban were now working with them and added that India had allowed the group to appoint diplomats in the Delhi mission.
However, when a journalist pointed out that the embassy still displayed the old tricolour flag, Muttaqi responded that the Taliban had fought and won under the black-and-white flag and that this was the reason for its presence during the briefing.
The embassy is currently managed by Sayed Mohammad Ibrahimkhil, the Afghan consul general for Hyderabad, along with Zakia Wardak, the former consul general in Mumbai. Both took charge in November 2023 after Republic-appointed diplomats suspended operations in protest against the Indian government’s conduct.
Although Muttaqi insisted that the embassy was under Taliban control, the mission remains in diplomatic limbo. While the property legally falls under Afghanistan’s foreign ministry — now led by the Taliban — India has yet to formally recognise the regime. The continued presence of the Republic’s tricolour flag outside the building underscores this unresolved status.
Muttaqi’s visit marked the first official trip to India by a senior Taliban functionary and signaled a new phase in the group’s outreach to New Delhi.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had recently announced that India’s technical team in Kabul would be upgraded to the level of an embassy, marking a significant shift from the country’s complete withdrawal of personnel in August 2021 after the Taliban’s takeover.