Japan PM Fumio Kishida urges countries with nuclear weapons to raise transparency: Report

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday urged all nuclear weapons states to boost transparency in their capabilities. He also promised to do everything possible to ensure the adoption of a final document at a United Nations summit on nuclear nonproliferation. Speaking at a virtual nuclear disarmament meeting, Kishida stated that Japan will take the initiative in bringing countries with opposing views on nuclear weapons together to promote coordination in efforts towards a world free of such weapons, reported KYODO News.

Notably, the Japanese Prime Minister was born into a family from Hiroshima, a western Japanese prefecture whose capital was destroyed by an atomic bombing by the United States in 1945. 

Kishida stated that it is very unfortunate that not much efforts have been made by nations in reducing the number of nuclear weapons, let alone abolishing them. "Instead, there is concern that the number of nuclear weapons might increase in future. The forthcoming review conference is an opportunity to strengthen the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons' (NPT) foundation and reestablish confidence between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states," he said as reported by the Japanese news agency. He further added that the meeting's outcome should result in an exit, or a world free of nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, Minoru Terada, Kishida's special adviser on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, is expected to visit relevant nations in January to build the framework for the United Nations conference on the NPT. Every five years, the United Nations conducts a review conference to assess the organization's performance. It was originally scheduled for 2020, but was postponed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kishida attended the previous one in 2015 as Japan's foreign minister, which ended without a final document due to disagreements. 

Japan concerned over North Korea's nuclear & missile development 

It is significant to mention here that North Korea's nuclear and missile development has been a matter of security concern for Japan, which also remains on high alert amid the growing influence of China. In his remarks at the meeting, Kishida also the United States' decision to restart disclosure of nuclear weapons stockpiles in order to improve transparency. The virtual meeting was also attended by Gustavo Zlauvinen, Gustavo Zlauvinen, KYODO News reported.

(Image: AP)