Good job. Honesty is the best policy.
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The growing India-Australia bonhomie under PM Narendra Modi and his counterpart Tony Abbott will soon bring to an end an international art scandal which saw the surfacing of a Kushan Buddha statue in National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Canberra 7 years ago.
The Australian government has informed Indian authorities that it will soon return the sculpture dating back to 2nd century BC, realising that it had been stolen from an archaeological site in India. Government sources here attributed the development to increasing camaraderie between Modi and Abbott.
Abbott has on several occasions stated that improving relations with India was high on his priority list and one of the ways he has reached out to the Modi government is by returning stolen artefacts illegally taken out of India. During his summit meet with Modi last year in September, Abbott returned statues of 11th Century Shiva Nataraja and Ardhanariswara to India. The Buddha though dates back to 2ndCentury BC and is said to be of of great historic value.
According to a report in The Australian earlier this year, the artefact had been purchased by billionaire philanthropist Ros Packer for NGA. After Indian authorities took up the issue with Australia, NGA launched an investigation into how the statue was bought from a New York antiquities dealer and found that the dealer had tricked Australian authorities into believing that the red sandstone marvel had been purchased from a British collector in Hong Kong. The investigations revealed that the New York based dealer had travelled to India and acquired 2 Kushan Buddhas from a trafficker.
"The Department of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India are working with the National Museum in Delhi to effect the handover. The statute of the Buddha of the Kushan period dating back to 2nd century BC is made of red sandstone and is from the Mathura region of Uttar Pradesh,'' said a senior government official here.
Government sources here said there was growing personal bonhomie between Modi and Abbott following their bilateral meetings last year. Modi last year became the first Indian PM to visit Australia after Rajiv Gandhi in 1985. Modi attended the G20 summit in Brisbane and later travelled to Canberra for his bilateral meeting with Abbott. During the visit, Abbott also held a reception for Modi at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Abbott, in fact, has received some criticism from the Australian media for the $ 24,000 which was apparently spent on flower arrangements for the banquet he held for Modi.
Australia to return a 2nd century BC sculpture to India - The Times of India
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The growing India-Australia bonhomie under PM Narendra Modi and his counterpart Tony Abbott will soon bring to an end an international art scandal which saw the surfacing of a Kushan Buddha statue in National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Canberra 7 years ago.
The Australian government has informed Indian authorities that it will soon return the sculpture dating back to 2nd century BC, realising that it had been stolen from an archaeological site in India. Government sources here attributed the development to increasing camaraderie between Modi and Abbott.
Abbott has on several occasions stated that improving relations with India was high on his priority list and one of the ways he has reached out to the Modi government is by returning stolen artefacts illegally taken out of India. During his summit meet with Modi last year in September, Abbott returned statues of 11th Century Shiva Nataraja and Ardhanariswara to India. The Buddha though dates back to 2ndCentury BC and is said to be of of great historic value.
According to a report in The Australian earlier this year, the artefact had been purchased by billionaire philanthropist Ros Packer for NGA. After Indian authorities took up the issue with Australia, NGA launched an investigation into how the statue was bought from a New York antiquities dealer and found that the dealer had tricked Australian authorities into believing that the red sandstone marvel had been purchased from a British collector in Hong Kong. The investigations revealed that the New York based dealer had travelled to India and acquired 2 Kushan Buddhas from a trafficker.
"The Department of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India are working with the National Museum in Delhi to effect the handover. The statute of the Buddha of the Kushan period dating back to 2nd century BC is made of red sandstone and is from the Mathura region of Uttar Pradesh,'' said a senior government official here.
Government sources here said there was growing personal bonhomie between Modi and Abbott following their bilateral meetings last year. Modi last year became the first Indian PM to visit Australia after Rajiv Gandhi in 1985. Modi attended the G20 summit in Brisbane and later travelled to Canberra for his bilateral meeting with Abbott. During the visit, Abbott also held a reception for Modi at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Abbott, in fact, has received some criticism from the Australian media for the $ 24,000 which was apparently spent on flower arrangements for the banquet he held for Modi.
Australia to return a 2nd century BC sculpture to India - The Times of India
