An ancient Indian sculpture found in Canada was handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper on Wednesday.
Harper handed over the "Parrot Lady" to Modi at the Library of Parliament in Ottawa.
The Indian prime minister will take the 900-year-old 'Parrot Lady' -- a life-sized, sandstone sculpture -- back to India where she belongs, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported.
The "Parrot Lady" was carved for placement in one of the Khajuraho temples that form a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Madhya Pradesh.
The sculpture of a "Naayika" or "Heroine" has a parrot on her back.
This valuable antiquity turned up in Canada in 2011 in the possession of someone who did not have proper documentation, it was seized under the Cultural Property Export and Import law, which controls antiquities and other cultural objects being imported from foreign states.
It was then turned over to the department of Canadian Heritage in Edmonton.
The Canadian authorities did contact the Indian High Commission in Ottawa to ask whether anyone was looking for a statue, but was told after some time that no one in India was aware that one of their relics had gone missing.
Her lineage, however, was obvious.
Earlier this year, experts from the Archaeological Survey of India travelled to Canada to inspect and authenticate her origin.
