New Delhi: Fresh reports suggest that the big claims by the British media that India started pulling diplomatic strings to repatriate the Kohinoor diamond, among other artefacts, are not true.
NDTV reported that informed sources denied the information, NDTV learned, and the official who was quoted in the false media reports never mentioned Kohinoor.
NDTV sources, who chose to be anonymous, said that India focuses on the process of retrieval of antiquities through bilateral cooperation and partnership, in a way parallel to existing international arrangments. The process has been going on in the past as well and with multiple countries that host Indian artefacts.
Kohinoor gathered special attention last week during the Coronation of King Charles III, though Queen Camilla chose alternative diamonds for her consort's crown.
Kohinoor, a 105-carat diamond, reached Britain after the East India Company handed it from Maharaja Ranjit Singh's treasury when it annexed Punjab. The company presented it to Queen Victoria.
A day ago, the Daily Telegraph reported that the Indian government had prioritised the repatriation of the diamond.
In recent years, there has been a trend of repatriation of multiple cultural artefacts after Greece called for the return of Elgin Marbles and Nigeria the Benin Bronzes.
Also last year, a charitable organisation which runs the Scottish city's museums named Glasgow Life signed an agreement with the Indian administration to return seven stolen Indian artefacts. The majority of the said items were removed/stolen from temples and shrines in north India during the 19th century.
Glasgow Life said that all of them were gifted to Glasgow collections.