An unrelated photo of an event attended by Afghanistan's foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has surfaced falsely claiming that women journalists were present in the press meet at the Afghanistan embassy in Delhi held on October 10.
BOOM found the photograph was taken in an event organised by Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) in Delhi.
The Editor's Guild Of India protested the exclusion of women journalists from the press conference held inside the embassy which was presided over by Muttaqi and S Jaishankar. The visiting Afghan minister marked the incident as a technical issue and not intentional exclusion while, the foreign ministry of India denied its involvement in the process of inviting journalists. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders attacked the BJP government over the gender-based discrimination. After outrage ensued, Muttaqi called a second presser inviting women journalists.
The Claim
X user Ocean Jain (@ocjain4) claimed that 8 to 10 women journalists were present at the presser in the Afghan embassy. The caption in Hindi translates to, "The truth is also that women reporters were present in the press conference of Afghanistan's Foreign Minister. See the photo and count how many women are there... I can see 8-10. But our opposition, afflicted with the disease of Modi hatred, couldn't see them."
Click here to see post and here for the archive.
What We Found: Photograph not from embassy presser
Photo from VIF event: BOOM ran a reverse image search on the viral image and found it was originally posted by VIF India on X. Posted on October 10, 2025, the caption read, "Highlights from today's interaction at the VIF with Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, H.E. Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi. The conversation underscored the deep economic, historical, cultural, and civilizational ties between the two countries. His mention of Rabindranath Tagore's Kabuliwala struck a poignant chord with the audience."
Vivekananda International Foundation is a New Delhi based think tank that works on foreign affairs, national security and strategy and public policy.
