New York/ Washington: Three stolen antique sculptures valued at over $ 1.5 million have been returned to India by the US in an “excellent” display of bilateral cooperation following a month-long row over the arrest and indictment of an Indian diplomat here.
On the other hand US deputy secretary of state William J. Burns hosted the new Indian Ambassador S. Jaishankar for a lunch meeting on Tuesday at the state department headquarters as they discussed the forward movement in ties post the Devyani Khobragade case.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) handed over sandstone sculptures of Vishnu and Lakshmi, Vishnu and Parvati and a black sandstone Bodhisattva statue to India’s consul general Dnyaneshwar Mulay.
The sculptures were returned during a repatriation ceremony at the Indian Consulate in New York, the former office of Devyani Khobragade.
Two of the three artifacts returned to India were reported to be stolen from Gadgach Temple in Atru, Rajast-han in 2009 by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The 350-pound Vishnu and Lakshmi sandstone sculpture dates back to the 11th or 12th century and was listed as nu-mber six on Interpol’s top 10 most wanted works of art. A 600-pound Vishnu and Parvati sandstone sculpture was also stolen from the temple.
The third artifact depicting a Bodhisattva is believed to date back to the 11th or early 12th century from either Bihar or Bengal.
When asked if there was any connection between the timing of the ceremony, given the month-long tensions between the two countries over the arrest and indictment of Ms Kho-bragade, both US and Indian officials said the ceremony had been on their calendars for a long time.
“Our relationship has moved, is further being strengthened not only in the traditional conventional areas of politics, economics and culture. There are myriad aspects of security between the two countries and these are being strengthened through efforts from US and Indian sides,” consul general consul general Dnya-neshwar Mulay said.
