Japan PM to call for non-use of nuclear weapons at UN NPT confab

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he will call for the principle of no use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states to be maintained at a U.N. conference to review a nuclear nonproliferation treaty starting Monday.

In an interview before he attends the conference in New York for the first time as Japan’s leader, Kishida said he wants to unveil a road map toward realizing a world free of nuclear weapons.

He has long been pushing for the realization of a nuclear-free world as a lawmaker elected from Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities destroyed by U.S. atomic bombs in 1945.

The review meeting on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the world’s most widely ratified agreement on nuclear arms controls, will be held at a time when Russia has been dangling a nuclear threat as its war in Ukraine continues.

Kishida acknowledged that debate on the need for nuclear disarmament has been losing steam. He added, “I would like to reverse (this trend)” by attending a part of the conference, which runs from Monday to Aug 26.

A review conference is held every five years. The latest round of the meeting was due to take place in 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kishida was foreign minister when the previous meeting ended without an outcome document due to disagreements among the participants.

“It would be ideal to see an outcome document on which all nations can agree,” Kishida said.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES