Non-proliferation meetings begin in Hiroshima

Japanese minister hopes the location of the meeting, a nuclear bomb blast site, would send a strong message.

Japan’s new foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, hopes ministers at the conference will also visit Hiroshima’s peace museum. Shizuo Kambayashi / AP Photo

TOKYO // The path towards achieving a world free of nuclear weapons may prove long, said the Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday.

“But I hope that nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states can come together in a more solid manner to realise this objective,” he said ahead of the eighth ministerial meeting on the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) taking place in Hiroshima on Friday and Saturday.

Mr Kishida, originally from Hiroshima, said he hoped the location of the meeting would send a strong message.

“It’s the first time that the NPDI meeting will be held in a city which suffered from the atomic bomb,” he said. “We’d like ministers attending to visit the Peace Memorial museum and interact with residents living in Hiroshima so that they will be able to see the realities. We hope they will send out a stronger message based on what they see in Hiroshima.”

He said the goal to create a world free of nuclear weapons was shared by many countries, including the US, but that there were differences in the opinions of nuclear and non-nuclear states.

“But we are starting to see that there are more frequent discussions regarding the inhumane use of nuclear weapons within the international community, so I think that focusing and discussing on this inhumane aspect of nuclear weapons will serve as a catalyst to bring together these different countries despite their different positions,” he said.

Mr Kishida said cooperation and engagement from nuclear-weapon states were needed.

“I hope there will be specific and more concrete proposals for the meeting to focus on non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament,” he said. “The path before us may be a long one, but I have elaborated the sentiments and feelings I have in leading the discussion.”

Hamad Alkaabi, the UAE’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said shedding light on the humanitarian aspect of nuclear weapons was helpful in understanding the urgent goals of nuclear disarmament and the need to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“Hiroshima witnessed the first drop of the atomic bomb so for this city and its people, the attack by nuclear weapons is part of their history and it’s a very touching history,” he said. “The NPDI will continue its efforts in developing concrete ideas and, through engagement with various parties, to bridge differences and make progress on full non-proliferation treaty implementation.”

A US state department official said the NPDI member states had consistently stressed the need for systematic and continued reduction of all nuclear weapons, including non-strategic nuclear weapons, in a pragmatic and step-by-step approach, aiming at their elimination.

“To that end, the United States and the other four NPT nuclear weapons states are working together for the first time on transparency and confidence-building measures to enable future movement towards a world without nuclear weapons,” the official said.

“The United States and Russia continue to work closely on bilateral disarmament measures. In addition, the United States is committed to further reductions in all categories of nuclear weapons. We share the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and appreciate the NPDI’s continuing support for the step-by-step path to get there.”