India's tourism minister says female tourists 'should not wear short dresses and skirts'

India's Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma drew criticism on Sunday for saying female tourists traveling to the country "should not wear short dresses and skirts."

Speaking in Agra about tourist safety, Sharma said Indian officials had issued welcome kits to travelers that included safety advice for women.

“These are very small things, like, they should not venture out alone at night in small places, or wear skirts, and they should click the photo of the vehicle number plate whenever they travel and send it to friends," Sharma said.

“For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts," he said, according to the Guardian, adding, "Indian culture is different from the western.”

India began issuing the kits in 2015. Many were angered that Sharma advised women to adjust their clothing because of the acts of men.

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On Monday, Sharma said he meant only that tourists should respect dress codes in religious areas.

"Even I have two daughters," Sharma said. "I would never tell women what they should wear and what they should not."

A number of rapes in India have made headlines around the world over the past few years.

The brutal and fatal gang rape of an Indian medical student in 2012 drew international outrage and touched off a series of protests against rape inside the country.

And brutal gang rapes of tourists have caused outrage, too. A Danish woman was gang-raped in 2014 after she asked for directions. In July, an Israeli woman was allegedly abducted and raped by two men while she was looking for a taxi.