Weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned from his state visit to the United States, a total of 105 antiquities, spanning a period from 2nd – 3rd Century CE to 18th – 19th Century CE, are being repatriated to India by American authorities.
A special repatriation ceremony was held at the Indian Consulate in New York to return some of the valuable Indian antiquities. The ceremony was in the presence of India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhi, Consul General Randhir Jaiswal and officials from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Addressing the ceremony, Sandhu stated that the antiquities being returned to India are “not just art but a part of our heritage, culture, and religion.” He added that the articles are received with a lot of emotions, which will be soon transported to India.
The 105 artifacts have items with different geographical orgini in India. 47 of 105 articles are from Eastern India, 27 from Southern India, 6 from Northern India, 3 from Western India, 22 from Central India, an official release said.