The Kohinoor diamond (embedded at the centre) in the British queen's crown. (Getty Images file photo)

A replica of the Kohinoor diamond. (Getty Images file photo)

(With inputs from PTI)

LONDON: Britain’s Indian community has once again raised a call for Prime Minister David Cameron to return the dazzling Kohinoor to India.Britain MP Keith Vaz has called for the Kohinoor diamond to be returned to India during Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to UK in November.His comments come in response to Dr Shashi Tharoor’s speech at the Oxford Union for Britain to pay reparations to India.Vaz said, “I welcome Dr Tharoor’s speech and the endorsement of its message by PM Modi. I share their views. These are genuine grievances which must be addressed. Pursuing monetary reparations is complex, time consuming and potentially fruitless, but there is no excuse for not returning precious items such as the Kohinoor diamond, a campaign I have backed for many years.”PM Modi is due to arrive in the UK on November 12 and PM Cameron has gone out of his way to maintain a strong bilateral relationship between India and Britain."What a wonderful moment it would be, if and when Prime Minister Modi finishes his visit, which is much overdue, he returns to India with the promise of the diamond's return," Vaz said.During his 2013 visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Cameron had said, “they are not having it back.”The 105-carat diamond is set in the crown of the late Queen Mother and is on display with the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.The Kohinoor was mined in medieval times in the Kollur mine in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district. At one time it was considered the largest diamond in the world.The diamond was originally owned by the Kakatiya Dynasty, which had installed it in a temple of a Hindu goddess as her eye. It passed through the hands of various invaders and was finally appropriated by the British during the Raj.However, till now Britain has refused demands to return the diamond to its country of origin.