Bengaluru, June 24 (IANS): Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Friday hailed the peace pact between the Colombian government and the country's main rebel group which he had been persuading to give up violence.

The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a historic pact on Thursday to end a 52-year-old armed conflict. 

Ravi Shankar's Art of Living said he had played "an important role" in the peace process. 

Last year, the spiritual leader travelled to Cuba and Colombia, talking to both the parties and building trust between them, an Art of Living statement said. 

"His efforts resulted in a major breakthrough in June 2015 when the FARC rebels announced a unilateral ceasefire," it said.

The strife had taken the lives of 220,000 people and displaced more than five million.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was quoted as saying that with his consent, Ravi Shankar spoke to both parties, urging the FARC leaders to follow the Gandhian principle of non-violence.