Trisha Ghosh, Pune
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked US President Joe Biden for the return of 297 antiquities to India that had been trafficked earlier. Trafficking of culturally valuable goods and artefacts is a phenomenon that has affected many communities and cultures in the past, dating back to colonial eras. India has been particularly affected by it.
Since 2014, India has received a total of 640 trafficked antiquities. This includes the recent handover of artefacts. Since 2016, 578 artefacts have come from the USA alone, which is also the largest number of antiquities that India has recovered from any country.
Upon PM Modi’s visit to the USA in 2021, the government returned 157 antiquities, most prominent of which was a bronze statue of Nataraja dating back to the 12th century. Similarly, 105 antiquities were returned to India upon the Prime Minister’s visit to the country in 2023. In addition, India has managed to secure recoveries of antiquities from other countries such as the United Kingdom (16 artefacts) and Australia (40 artefacts).
Earlier this year in July, at the 46th World Heritage Committee in New Delhi, the US and India signed a ‘Cultural Property Agreement’, aiming to reduce and eliminate smuggling of antiquities from India.
In a post on X (link: https://x.com/narendramodi/status/1837688252670923099), the PM praised what he termed ‘deepening cultural connect’ and expressed his thanks to President Biden for the return of antiquities. During the PM’s meeting with Biden in Delaware, a few pieces were specially selected for a symbolic handover. On Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs officially stated that the artefacts have been returned in alignment with ‘close bilateral ties’ and to develop better cultural sensitivity and mutual understanding.
According to the Ministry’s statement, the artefacts returned date back nearly 4000 years, circa 2000 BCE to 1900 CE and are believed to have originated in regions across India. Most of these are terracotta antiquities from the eastern parts of the country, whereas others are of stone, wood, metal and even ivory.
Some notable items that have been returned are a bronze statue of Lord Ganesha from South India, circa the 17th to 18th century, a sculpture in stone from the 1st century, a Lord Buddha idol made of sandstone from North India from around the 15th century, a sandstone apsara statue, as well as an anthropomorphic copper statue dating back to 2000 to 1800 BCE. There are also statues of Lord Krishna and Lord Karthikeya, both from South India, among others.