A British auction of paintings belonging to India's national poet has caused national outcry in India, who believe the "world heritage" works should be returned to the country.
Sotheby's plans to auction in June a dozen paintings by Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European to win the Nobel prize for literature in 1913.
But the auction has been criticised by leading Indian politicians who believe the paintings are "a priceless treasure of Indian culture" and should be brought back to the country.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the chief minister of West Bengal – the region Tagore comes from – wrote to Mr Singh, asking him to intervene.
"The Elmhirst collection of Tagore paintings is a priceless treasure of Indian culture and the government of India should take all necessary steps to bring them back to India."
Mr Singh has said the government will examine the option of buying the paintings, although he added that there were legal issues involved as the particular art works do not fall under the category of antiquity.
Tagore finished more than 2,000 canvases before his death in 1941, aged 70. The Sotheby's collection has been described as "the most important group of works by Rabindranath Tagore ever to appear at auction".
The 12 paintings are owned by the Dartington Hall Trust, a Devon-based charity. Founder Leonard Elmhirst was a close friend of Tagore's, working as his private secretary in the 1920s.
Kalyan Kundu, chairman of the London-based Tagore Centre, said: "These paintings should be considered world heritage and should be preserved in a proper art gallery and not be left in the hands of private art dealers for making money."
Matthew Weigman, Sotheby's worldwide director of sales publicity said: "Both Sotheby's and Dartington would be delighted if the works were acquired by an Indian institution – and returned to India – as they are certainly of museum quality."
