The British Museum is sending 80 prized treasures abroad in a push to "decolonise".
The artefacts will be sent to a prominent institution in India as part of a new "collaborative approach" with Britain's former colonies.
Dr Nicholas Cullinan, the museum's director, has described the initiative as a fresh template for cultural diplomacy.
The items are now on display at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya.
"You don't have to embarrass your own country to do something positive with another country," Dr Cullinan said.
"It can actually be very beneficial - cultural diplomacy, that's what museums should do," he told The Telegraph.
The scheme represents the first arrangement of its kind with a non-Western museum.
It comprises treasures from ancient civilisations not typically found in Indian collections.
'You don't have to embarrass your own country to do something positive with another country,' British Museum boss Dr Cullinan said
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Among the items is a remarkably fragile Egyptian riverboat made from wood some 4,000 years ago.
A wooden sculpture depicting oxen drawing a plough is also included, alongside Sumerian figures dating back to 2200 BC.
These objects originated from societies that existed alongside the Indus Valley - the beginnings of civilisation in modern India.
British Museum expert Thorsten Opper earmarked a number of later pieces to be shipped out - including a Roman mosaic unearthed beneath London's Leadenhall Market.
A marble bust of Augustus and a Romano-British silver pepper container also feature in the display.
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A wooden sculpture depicting oxen drawing a plough is also being sent to India
|BRITISH MUSEUM
The collection constitutes the largest loan of ancient material ever sent to India.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the director general of the Mumbai museum, said the gallery would help to "correct colonial misinterpretation" of India's past.
He said: "All cultures are great cultures and we need to respect all cultures.
"Through this exhibition there is decolonisation... An attempt is made to decolonise the narrative."
Mr Mukherjee spoke of colonialism's lasting impact on Indian education and culture.
He told The Telegraph: "We suffered for many years and colonisation penetrated in our education, in our culture.
"There is a kind of emergence. I'm going to use the word 'revolt', but we are emerging with dignity and are very proud of history."
The museum is already eyeing up similar partnerships elsewhere, with Dr Cullinan recently travelling to China and Nigeria to expand collaborative projects.
The items are now on display at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
|WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
A trip to Ghana is also planned.
Last year, the institution loaned golden regalia once belonging to the Asante king, which British troops seized in 1874.
However, the treasures won't be gone forever - the British Museum Act 1963 prevents the permanent transfer of items from its collection.
The Act gives Britain the power to refuse other countries' demands to give back their goods.
Dr Cullinan is instead promoting loan agreements lasting up to three years as a means of "easing post-colonial tensions".
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