NEW DELHI: India has called for “reconciliation” talks between Sri Lanka and its Tamil minority as it faces pressure to back a US motion at the UN demanding Colombo probe alleged army atrocities during the island’s civil war.

The United States has said it will place a motion before the UN Human Rights Council this month demanding an account of the final days in 2009 of the bloody conflict and pressing for all Sri Lankans to enjoy full human rights.

The Colombo government must “take the initiative to talk to the Tamil leadership in Sri Lanka”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a speech posted on his website on Saturday.

Indian media has reported that India is likely to support the US resolution even though its backing for the US motion last year sparked considerable ill-feeling in Sri Lanka toward New Delhi.—AFP