<p>Australia will return 14 artworks to India, including at least six believed to have been stolen or illegally exported, the National Gallery announced Thursday.</p>.<p>The Canberra gallery identified the works — which include sculptures, photographs and a scroll — as either stolen, looted or of unknown origin.</p>.<p>The collection is composed largely of "religious and cultural artefacts" worth a total of about $2.2 million, including some dating back to the 12th century.</p>.<p>Gallery director Nick Mitzevich told <em>AFP</em> the works were set to be returned to the Indian government within months.</p>.<p>"It's a relief that they can be returned to the Indian people, and it's a resolution for the National Gallery to close a very difficult chapter of our history," he said.</p>.<p>Thirteen of the works are connected to alleged trafficker Subhash Kapoor, a former Manhattan art dealer who was the subject of a massive US federal investigation known as Operation Hidden Idol.</p>.<p>Kapoor, who is awaiting trial, denies all charges.</p>.<p>The National Gallery of Australia has already returned several other works it acquired via Kapoor, including a $5 million bronze statue of the Hindu god Shiva that had been stolen from a Tamil Nadu temple.</p>.<p>Mitzevich said it had introduced guidelines to assess any legal and ethical issues with works it holds, and was investigating three other sculptures from its Asia collection.</p>.<p>"It's very much a live issue with galleries around the world. And we want to make sure that we can resolve these issues in a timely manner," he said.</p>.<p>Many of the antiquities Kapoor dealt in dated back to the 11th and 12th centuries, when the Chola dynasty presided over a flourishing of Hindu art in Tamil Nadu.</p>.<p>Since his arrest in 2011, the United States has also returned hundreds of artefacts.</p>
<p>Australia will return 14 artworks to India, including at least six believed to have been stolen or illegally exported, the National Gallery announced Thursday.</p>.<p>The Canberra gallery identified the works — which include sculptures, photographs and a scroll — as either stolen, looted or of unknown origin.</p>.<p>The collection is composed largely of "religious and cultural artefacts" worth a total of about $2.2 million, including some dating back to the 12th century.</p>.<p>Gallery director Nick Mitzevich told <em>AFP</em> the works were set to be returned to the Indian government within months.</p>.<p>"It's a relief that they can be returned to the Indian people, and it's a resolution for the National Gallery to close a very difficult chapter of our history," he said.</p>.<p>Thirteen of the works are connected to alleged trafficker Subhash Kapoor, a former Manhattan art dealer who was the subject of a massive US federal investigation known as Operation Hidden Idol.</p>.<p>Kapoor, who is awaiting trial, denies all charges.</p>.<p>The National Gallery of Australia has already returned several other works it acquired via Kapoor, including a $5 million bronze statue of the Hindu god Shiva that had been stolen from a Tamil Nadu temple.</p>.<p>Mitzevich said it had introduced guidelines to assess any legal and ethical issues with works it holds, and was investigating three other sculptures from its Asia collection.</p>.<p>"It's very much a live issue with galleries around the world. And we want to make sure that we can resolve these issues in a timely manner," he said.</p>.<p>Many of the antiquities Kapoor dealt in dated back to the 11th and 12th centuries, when the Chola dynasty presided over a flourishing of Hindu art in Tamil Nadu.</p>.<p>Since his arrest in 2011, the United States has also returned hundreds of artefacts.</p>