AP file photo
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday indicated he would raise the issue of the Koh-i-Noor diamond if given the opportunity to speak to King Charles III.“If I was to speak to the King separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond,” Mamdani said at a press conference on Wednesday ahead of his meeting with the British monarch in New York later in the day during his state visit to the US.
Mamdani was responding to questions on what he would say to the King, who was in the city on the second day of his visit.King Charles III addressed a joint meeting of the US Congress on Tuesday, as he and Queen Camilla were honoured at a state dinner hosted by US president Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the White House.During their visit to New York City, the royal couple paid their respects at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, commemorating victims of the 2001 terror attacks, and also toured Harlem Grown, which supports children and families in Upper Manhattan through urban agriculture initiatives.The Koh-i-Noor diamond, whose name translates to “Mountain of Light,” was mined in India’s Kollur Mine. Originally weighing about 186 carats before it was recut, the diamond passed through several Indian dynasties, including the Mughal Empire and the Sikh Empire.In 1849, following the Second Anglo-Sikh War, the British East India Company forced the 10-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh to sign the Treaty of Lahore, under which the diamond was ceded to Queen Victoria.The diamond now weighs 105.6 carats and is set in the crown of Queen Elizabeth. It is kept on display behind reinforced glass at the Tower of London.India has said it will continue to explore options to secure the return of the Koh-i-Noor diamond from the United Kingdom and will persist in seeking a “satisfactory resolution of the matter.”
