US Hands Over 105 Indian Antiquities To India In Special Repatriation Ceremony

Days after Prime Minister Modi’s state visit to the US, a total of 105 antiquities, spanning a period from 2nd-3rd Century CE to 18th-19th Century CE, are being repatriated to India by American authorities.

The US administration is striving to clear the path for returning more artwork that needs to be in India as a permanent component of the new India-US partnership, according to US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, who also praised Indian artwork and its historical contribution to the world.

“We have been working to return art that needs to be in India. This has often come from India sometimes it’s been stolen and illegally sold. Whether it’s the District Attorney’s office here or the Metropolitan Museum has sometimes identified that art and been a wonderful actor, to say, ‘this doesn’t smell right, this needs to go back to India”, Eric Garcetti said.

At a special repatriation ceremony held at the Consulate General of India in New York, some of the priceless Indian antiquities were handed over, in the presence of India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Consul General Randhir Jaiswal and officials from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

The 100 antiquities being returned to India are “not just art, but part of our heritage, culture, and religion,” Sandhu said, during the ceremony.

According to Sandhu, when this lost legacy returns home, it will meet with a great deal of emotion. Soon, the antiquities will be shipped to India. The 105 antiquities are from all over India, with 47 coming from Eastern India, 27 from Southern India, 22 from Central India, 6 from Northern India, and 3 from Western India, according to an official announcement.

“Spanning a period from 2nd-3rd Century CE to 18th-19th Century CE, the artefacts are made of terracotta, stone, metal and wood. Around 50 artefacts relate to religious subjects (Hinduism, Jainism and Islam) and the rest are of cultural significance,” it said.

During PM Modi’s state visit to US, Modi thanked Joe Biden for returning these precious antiquities, both countries also agreed to work on the “Cultural Property Agreement”, that would help prevent the illegal trafficking of cultural antiquities.

India has been making concerted efforts to bring back stolen Indian artifacts, the living symbols of rich Indian heritage and culture, from abroad. The US had returned 276 cultural antiquities to India since 2016, including these 105 antiquities.