What was meant as a gesture of respect toward women ended up reminding India that it needed to improve female representation in politics.

[Modi’s] call for only female lawmakers to address the Indian parliament on International Women’s Day included silence — because there weren’t enough women to speak.

Of 543 elected members in the lower house, only 62 are women — or just 12 percent. The global average is 22 percent for women in Parliament, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.