Enriching the bonhomie bewtween the two world powers at a time of socio-political turmoils, the United States has returned another batch of a total of 1,400 'looted' artefacts valued at $10 million to India as part of an ongoing initiative to repatriate 'stolen heritage' from South Asian and Southeast Asian nations.
The artefacts, some of which were displayed at the iconic New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, include notable items such as a sandstone sculpture of a celestial dancer.
This sculpture was smuggled out of India to London during British rule and later sold illegally at an auction.
It eventually ended up in the Met’s collection as a donation from one of its patrons.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office revealed that these stolen items were recovered through an ongoing investigation into criminal trafficking networks involving prominent art dealers.
Two convicted traffickers, Subhash Kapoor and Nancy Wiener, remain at the centre of the inquiry.
Kapoor, an American antiquities dealer sentenced to 10 years in prison, was accused of running a multimillion-dollar looting network in New York.
Arrested in Germany and extradited to India, he has been serving time in an Indian prison since his 2022 conviction for antiquities trafficking.
The US authorities are still pursuing additional cases against him.
America’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Special Agent in Charge, William S. Walker, described the return of the artefacts as a major victory in a long-standing, transnational investigation into antique smuggling by high-profile criminals.
The artefacts were officially handed over to the Indian Consulate in New York on Wednesday.
Reports highlight that during colonial rule, artefacts, antiques, and culturally significant valuables worth billions were looted from India, with many still held in British museums.
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