India, US sign ‘Cultural Property Agreement’ for retrieval of antique objects

Culture secretary Govind Mohan and Eric Garcetti, US ambassador to India, signed the agreement in the presence of Union minister of culture and tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

The Cultural Property Agreement (CPA) is aligned with the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the “Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, to which both countries are parties.”.

The illicit trafficking of cultural property is a longstanding issue that has affected many cultures and countries throughout history. A large number of antiquities have been smuggled out of India before the ratification of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which are now housed in various museums, institutions, and private collections across the world.

Speaking on the occasion, Shekhawat said that the CPA is “another step towards securing India’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and invaluable artefacts of our grand history. It is the beginning of a new chapter to prevent the illegal trafficking of cultural property and retrieval of antiquarian objects to their place of origin.”

The Union minister further added that the “preservation and protection of the Indian artefacts and cultural heritage has emerged as an integral component of India’s foreign policy over the last decade.”

India has repatriated 358 antiquities since 1976; out of these, 345 have been retrieved since 2014, mostly from the US, said the Shekhawat.

In 2023, the US had offered 1,440 artefacts in possession of its museums or authorities for repatriation, and a team of experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had visited to examine their antiquarian value. The team found around 300 artefacts eligible under the “antique” category. The agreement would mean that the repatriation would be “faster and smoother.”

While it is not clear where these repatriated artefacts will be situated once returned, Shekhawat said that most of them would be sent back to the states to which they belong with a “possibility” of having a “special section or a museum” for the repatriated artefacts.

The minister further said that the agreement is a “culmination of year-long bilateral discussions and negotiations held on the sidelines of the G20 culture working group meetings” and is a “groundbreaking endorsement” of “culture as a standalone goal” in the post-2020 development framework in the New Delhi’s Leaders’ Declaration (NDLD).

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to the US last year, conveyed his deep appreciation for the repatriation of Indian antiques. Both the state parties expressed their strong interest in working expeditiously toward a Cultural Property Agreement aimed at preventing illegal trafficking of cultural heritage and enhancing cooperation between the two nations. As many as 262 antiquities were handed over to India by the US on the occasion of Modi’s visit.

Garcetti, after signing the agreement, said, “The colonial experience in India meant that much was taken from the country, but independence did not bring everything back to India. This cultural property agreement is about two things. First, it’s about justice, and secondly, it’s about connecting India with the world, because every American and every global citizen who is not Indian deserves to know, see, and feel the culture that we celebrate here today. This agreement will allow us to legally be able to share that part.”

With this agreement, India joins the ranks of 29 existing US bilateral cultural property agreement partners. The US-India Cultural Property Agreement was negotiated by the state department under US law implementing the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.