Indian and American officials played nice for a change Tuesday as the US returned three rare antiques that had been stolen in India but were later recovered by customs officials after a worldwide search right out of a movie script.
One of the purloined artifacts – a 350-pound sandstone sculpture called “Vishnu and Lakshmi” – dates to the 11th or 12th century and was No. 6 on Interpol’s list of top 10 most wanted stolen artworks.
The sculpture and two others – a 600-pounder called “Vishnu and Parvati” and a depiction of a Buddhist “Bodhisattva” or enlightened being – were swiped from the Gadgach Temple in Rajasthan, India, in 2009.
Together, they are worth at least $1.5 million, according to US Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials.
The handover at the Indian Consulate on East 64th Street came as tensions between two countries still simmered over the arrest and strip search of the female Indian deputy consul general in New York on charges she stiffed her nanny and lied on visa forms.
Devyani Khobragade flew back to India on Sunday after she was granted immunity and a visa by the US State Department.
But she remains under indictment by the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan, and bad blood remains between to two nations – though not so much on Tuesday.
“It is a great moment for us. Personally for me, receiving these cultural properties on behalf of the people of India and behalf of all of India is a great honor,” said Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay, the Consul General of India.
“It will have a positive impact. It is symbolic of our progress,” Mulay said, adding that the timing was coincidental and that the return had long been planned.
The ICE probe that led to the recovery began in 2010, when Homeland Security agents learned that the sculptures were being offered for sale at an unnamed location in New York City, officials said.
The agents discovered that the “Vishnu and Lakshmi” piece had been moved from India to Hong Kong, and then to a dealer in Thailand, who sold it to a buyer in London.
The London buyer shipped the sculpture to New York for an exhibition in March 2010, and agents grabbed it while it was being sent back to London.
That seizure led to the discovery of the other objects, according to James A. Dinkins, a Homeland Security official, who said no arrests had been made and that the investigation is ongoing.
He explained the delay between the seizure and Tuesday’s return on the time it took to authenticate the artifacts – which had been labeled as replicas – and legally establish rightful ownership.
“The excellent international cooperation between the United States and India led to the recovery and return of these priceless antiquities,” said Dinkins. “The pilfering of a nation’s cultural patrimony cannot and will not be tolerated.”
But the return does not mean ties between the countries are back to normal, according to Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin.
“We have a series of issues. We will take this matter after carefully examining what has been our experience in the past and we will move forward on this broad relationship that we have,” he said, according to The New Indian Express.
Sanctions against US diplomats in India – including restrictions on duty-free booze – remained in effect, he said.