The United States has recently repatriated more than 1,400 looted artifacts valued at $10 million to India as part of a broader effort to return stolen art from countries in South and Southeast Asia. This initiative, led by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, aims to combat the illegal trafficking of cultural heritage.
Among the recovered items were pieces that were previously displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Notably, a sandstone sculpture of a celestial dancer, which was smuggled from central India to London and later sold illegally to a patron of the Met, was among the artifacts returned.
