The United States on Saturday returned 297 antiquities to India that were either stolen or trafficked from the country. The repatriation of these artefacts follows a Cultural Property Agreement signed in July 2024 between the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the Archaeological Survey of India under the Ministry of Culture.
This agreement is part of the broader commitments made by U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protect cultural heritage, as outlined in their joint statement in June 2023.
During Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit to the U.S., a symbolic handover of select artefacts took place on the sidelines of his bilateral meeting with President Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. Prime Minister Modi expressed his gratitude to President Biden for facilitating the return, emphasizing that these antiquities represent not just India’s historical material culture but also the core of its civilization and consciousness.
The 297 antiquities, which will soon be repatriated to India, span nearly 4,000 years, dating from 2000 BCE to 1900 CE. The artefacts originate from various regions of India, with a majority being terracotta pieces from Eastern India, while others are made from stone, metal, wood, and ivory.
Restitution of cultural property has become a key aspect of India-U.S. cultural cooperation in recent years. Since 2016, the U.S. government has facilitated the return of a large number of antiquities to India. These include 10 antiquities returned during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the U.S. in 2016, 157 in September 2021, and another 105 in June 2023. With the latest return of 297 items, the total number of antiquities returned to India from the U.S. stands at 578, the largest such return from any country.