Topic: Artifacts

The looting of antiquities became an economic tool for the Islamic State group to maintain its supremacy in the northern part of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits abroad often have a return gift. He has brought back more than a dozen historical artifacts from the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany and Singapore.  Since 2014, the Indian government has retrieved 24 Indian antiquities from around the world that were either stolen or smuggled out. In contrast, from 2009 to 2014, just one such object was brought back to the country, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has said. “There has been some momentum in the last 2-3 years (in bringing back Indian antiquities),” D.N. Dimri, Director (Antiquities) at the ASI, told ThePrint. He said he could not claim that the change has been spurred by the BJP coming to power but agreed that the country has made “significant gains in the recent past”. Between 2004-09 no such objects were brought back, an official from the ASI said. In fact, between 1976 and 2013, a total of 13 antiquities...