Hundreds of activists have protested in the Sri Lankan capital against India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi for urging the nation to step up post-war reconciliation with ethnic minority Tamils.

The pro-government protesters waved placards that read "Modi don't be foolish" and shouted anti-Modi slogans outside the Indian High Commission - the de facto embassy - in Colombo.

During bilateral talks last month, Mr Modi urged Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse to devolve political power to Tamils in reconciliation efforts

Angry protesters accused Mr Modi, who swept to power with a landslide election win, of interfering in Sri Lanka's internal affairs.

The activists, led by the National Freedom Front, a coalition partner in Mr Rajapakse's government, also targeted the chief minister of India's southern Tamil Nadu state, Jayalalitha Jayaram.

The protesters burnt a photograph of Ms Jayaram, who has called for Mr Modi to probe the "genocide" that she alleged was committed against Tamils during Sri Lanka's civil war.

Sri Lanka is under international pressure to probe allegations that up to 40,000 civilians were killed in the final stages of the war between the military and Tamil rebels that ended in 2009.

There have been tensions between the two countries over Colombo's treatment of its Tamil minority, which shares close cultural and religious ties with the more than 70 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu state.

Last week, Sri Lanka's government reacted angrily to Ms Jayaram's "genocide" remark, which it said reflected her bias against Sri Lanka.

Tamil Nadu is separated from Sri Lanka by a narrow strip of sea known as the Palk Strait.

In the 1980s, the Indian state provided safe haven to Tamil guerrillas who were fighting for an independent state carved out of Sri Lanka, the majority of whose population is ethnic Sinhalese.

AFP