Apart from strengthening the relationship and candid talks on diverse matters, PM Modi’s visit to the US proved to be beneficial as he has brought back valuable artifacts to India from the US. It is a favorable sign from the US side as both the leaders, Indian PM Modi and US President Joe Biden expressed their constant commitment towards combating theft, illicit trade, and trafficking of cultural objects. This is a remarkable move in the process of the retrieval of lost Indian heritage. The Prime Minister has appreciated the US gesture for the repatriation of antiquities to India.

Before the hand-over of these artifacts, the Archaeological Survey of India carried out a long process of identification and authentication. There are different sets of items in the list of 157 artifacts that range from one-and-a-half-meter bas relief panel of Revanta in sandstone of the 10^th CE to the 8.5 cm tall bronze Nataraja from 12^th CE. Estimating the antiquity of these items, the official statement said that these treasures largely belong to the period of 11^th CE to 14^th CE and the historic antiquities such as the copper anthropomorphic object of 2000 BC. The terracotta vase from the 2^nd CE. Some of them around 45 belong to Before Common Era. The artifacts which were stolen from Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh will be returned to them.

In the analysis, among the 157 artifacts and antiquities, 71 are of cultural importance, 60 are related to Hinduism, 16 to Buddhism, and 9 are related to Jainism. According to the official statement, these artifacts represent religious sculptures from Hinduism, such as three-headed Brahma, Chariot driving Surya, Vishnu and his Consorts, Dakshinamurthi Shiva, and dancing Ganesha.

The figurines include Laxmi Narayana, Buddha, Vishnu, Siva Parvathi, Kankalamurti, Brahmi, and Nandikesha and a few unnamed deities. Other than Hinduism, these antiques of Buddha, Bodhisattva Manjushri, Tara and Jain Tirthankara, Padmasaa Tirthankara, Jaina Choubisi are linked to Jainism and Buddhism. In addition, there are 56 terracotta pieces and an 18^th CE sheathed sword with an inscription Guru Hargovind Singh in Persian in the retrieved items.

It is not the first time that India has retrieved its valuable artifacts from different countries but the number had been very less. From 1976 to 2013, only 13 antiquities were retrieved. Between 2004 and 2014, only one antiquity returned to India.

The government sources said that since Modi became Prime Minister in 2014 and till now, nearly 200 antiquities have been returned to India. The Modi government is working hard to retrieve Indian artifacts and antiquities from across the world.

This is to be noted that Britain also has been the custodian of many valuable artifacts from India which they have treasured in their famous museums for a long time.

After the US, Britain should also take a step further and genuinely return all valuable artifacts to India which are of tremendous significance to India.

On the path of preserving culture and heritage, we have to see how much can we retrieve our long-lost antiquities.