Expressing gratitude to Joe Biden, Prime Minister Modi said that antiquities form the foundation of India's civilization and are not just an integral part of its historical culture.
An official statement on Sunday said that "297 antiquities" that had been smuggled out of the US were given to India as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's current tour.
"On the occasion of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's visit to the United States, the US side supported the return of 297 treasures that had been stolen or trafficked from India," said the Prime Minister's Office's authorized statement.
"Deepening cultural connect and strengthening the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural properties," said PM Modi when he shared the news on X. I am very appreciative to President Biden and the US government for making sure that 297 priceless treasures were returned to India.
He also shared images of President Joe Biden holding the recovered antiques on social media.
In a statement, he expressed gratitude to Joe Biden for his support of the repatriation of these artifacts and emphasized that they symbolize the essence of India's civilization and awareness, not only its past material culture.
PTI quoted sources that indicated that illegal cultural property trafficking has historically had a significant influence on numerous cultures and countries, with India being one of the most afflicted.
Everything about the antiques According to PMO's statement, the artifacts date back around 4,000 years, from 2000 BCE to 1900 CE, and come from different parts of India.
The majority of these artifacts are made of terracotta and are from Eastern India; some pieces are made of stone, metal, wood, and ivory and depict various regions of the nation.
The government claims that since 2016, the United States has been instrumental in the repatriation of a significant quantity of stolen or smuggled antiques. Ten antiques were returned by the Prime Minister when he visited the US in June 2016, 157 in September 2021, and 105 more when he returned in June of last year. Since 2016, the United States has returned the most amount of cultural artifacts to India—578, making it the largest return of any nation.
- In addition, India and the US signed their first "Cultural Property Agreement" in July 2024 in New Delhi, outside the 46th World Heritage Committee conference, to stop and prohibit the illegal trafficking of antiquities from India to the US.
Here are a few noteworthy antiques that were donated:
- Apsara in Central Indian sandstone from the tenth and eleventh centuries CE
- Jain Tirthankar in bronze, dating to the 15th and 16th centuries CE, from Central India
- Eastern Indian terracotta vase from the third or fourth century CE
- South Indian stone sculpture from the first century BCE–first century CE
- Lord Ganesh in Bronze, 17th–18th century CE, from South India
- An image of Lord Buddha standing in 15–16th-century North Indian sandstone
- A bronze image of Lord Vishnu from Eastern India, dating to the 17th and 18th centuries CE
- Anthropomorphic copper figurine from North India, dated between 2000 and 1800 BCE
Lord Krishna in bronze, 17th–18th century CE, from South India
- A 13th–14th century CE South Indian granite statue of Lord Karthikeya
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