India, US sign first-ever cultural property pact for retrieval of antiques

India and the United States on Friday their first agreement to prevent illegal trafficking of cultural property and return of antiquarian objects to their place of origin, the Ministry of Culture said. The US-India Cultural Property Agreement was signed by Union Cultural Secretary Govind Mohan and US envoy Eric Garcetti in the presence of Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on the sidelines of the ongoing 46th session of the World Heritage Committee at Bharat Mandapam here. Interacting with the press later, Shekhawat said it is a general agreement that will allow "smooth repatriation" of historic artefact from the US to India. He added that there are "297 items" that are "lying in the US, ready to be repatriated." India has repatriated 358 antiquities since 1976, out of these 345 have been retrieved since 2014, the minister said. "The agreement aims to prevent illegal trafficking of cultural property and retrieval of antiquarian objects to their place of origin," the