The US is returning 297 history-spanning antiquities stolen or smuggled from India, many dating back centuries.
Marking the handover, President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posed for a photo in front of several of the artifacts, during a recent meeting between the two leaders.
In July, the US and India signed an agreement to protect cultural property by preventing illegal trades and streamline the process to return stolen antiquities back to India.
The relics — most of which are terracotta artifacts from Eastern India — are expected to be repatriated “shortly,” according to the Indian government in a statement on Saturday.
The timing coincided with Modi’s visit to Biden’s hometown in Wilmington, Delaware, where the president held a Quad summit over the weekend, aimed at strengthening the close alliance between the US and India, Japan and Australia.
“Prime Minister (Modi) thanked President Biden for his support in the return of these artifacts,” the India’s Ministry of External Affairs said.
Modi also noted the relics “were not just part of India’s historical material culture but formed the inner core of its civilization and consciousness,” according to the statement.
The artifacts, ranging from sculptures to vases, belong to a period spanning from 2000 BCE to 1900 CE. Some are made of stone, metal, wood and ivory.
Among the exhibited objects was a sculpture of Apsara, a celestial performer in Hindu and Buddhist mythologies, made of sandstone from 10th to 11th century CE in Central India. Wearing ornamental headgear and a girdle with tassels, she strikes a posture found commonly in Indian classical dance.
A fragment of a stone sculpture carved with a turbaned man alongside two women and an elephant rider was also showcased.
India has faced an uphill battle in protecting its valuable cultural treasures from looters, though it has been making headway in recent years.
In 2022, the US returned 307 stolen treasures to India as part of a 15-year investigation into international trafficking networks. More than three-quarters of those repatriated items, which have an estimated value of over $4 million, were linked to the disgraced New York art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Indian court over smuggling offenses.
The US has returned 578 pieces of cultural artifacts to India since 2016, repatriations which in recent years have “become an important aspect of India-US cultural understanding and exchange,” according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
The US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has not immediately responded to CNN’s request for comment.
