Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister for Culture & Tourism attended a special event at National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra, Australia in which he was formally handed over three ancient artefacts stolen and smuggled out of India and inadvertently acquired by National Gallery of Australia.
The returned artefacts are Seated Buddha, Goddess Pratyangira and Worshippers of Buddha.
Earlier, during the visit of Australian Prime Minister to India in September 2014 the Australian government had also returned statue of ‘Dancing Siva’.
Dr. Mahesh Sharma is on official visit to Australia from September 18 to September 20, 2016. On September 18, he attended an event in connection with ‘Confluence-the Festival of India’ at the iconic Sydney Opera House.