India has offered to buy seven items that once belonged to independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, as well as a telegram on which he wrote "All good causes create good wishes," in an effort to stop a planned auction of them in New York, Bloomberg reports.

The e-mailed offer was extended to the owner of the items, Los Angeles–based documentary filmmaker James Otis, who countered that it was too low to consider. The personal effects, comprising Gandhi's pocket watch, steel-rimmed glasses, results of his blood test from Irwin Hospital in New Delhi, a pair of sandals, and an eating bowl and plate, are scheduled to be sold tomorrow as a single lot at Antiquorum auctioneers in New York. The estimate is $20–30,000.

Otis did not say how much he paid for the items, which he has amassed over the past decade. He said he plans to give most of the proceeds of the sale to organizations advocating nonviolence. He also offered to donate them to India in exchange for a government pledge to improve health care in the country.

The Delhi high court issued an order yesterday seeking a temporary halt on the sale, stating that the articles could not be sold because they belong to India. The Indian government, which was persuaded by a campaign started by Mahatma's great-grandson, Tushar, to seek the repatriation of the articles, plans to appeal to the U.S. State Department to help delay the auction.