WASHINGTON: The United States has returned 297 precious artefacts and antiquities to India in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit. These antiquities were stolen from India or smuggled illegally. Modi's earlier visits to the US too were successful at recovering the precious assets to India. A total of 157 antiquities, including the 12th-century Nataraja sculpture, were returned in 2021. After Modi's visit in 2023, 105 antiquities arrived in India. Between 2004 and 2013, only one antiquity was returned to India.
Important antiquities returned
Apsara Sculpture - 10th-11th century
Jain Tirthankara - 15th-16th century
Terracotta decorative vessel - 3rd-4th century
South Indian stone sculpture - 1st century BC
Bronze Ganesha Idol - 17th-18th century
Buddha Statue - 15th-16th century
Bronze idol of Krishna - 17th-18th century
Granite idol of Lord Muruga - 13th-14th century
Returned since 2014 - 640
US - 578
UK - 16
Australia - 40