Calling for nuclear disarmament

April 12, 2014

12 nations urge nuclear disarmament

The foreign ministers of 12 non-nuclear weapons states have called on nations possessing the weapons to do more to disarm. They also urged world leaders to visit and learn from the 2 atom-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The foreign ministers of a coalition known as the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Initiative adopted a joint statement at the end of their 8th meeting in Hiroshima on Saturday. It was their first meeting in the city.

The Hiroshima Declaration calls for a nuclear disarmament conference that would bring together not only the United States and Russia, but all other nuclear weapons states as well.

The statement urges the nuclear powers to clarify the sizes of their nuclear-weapon stockpiles and to reduce the number of such weapons.

The statement condemns North Korea's nuclear program and urges the country to suspend all its nuclear activity immediately.

It also expresses the hope that a resolution to the dispute over Iran's nuclear development can be found through talks between Iran and the 5 permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany.

The ministers suggested that world leaders visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They said people of all countries and generations should learn of the inhumanity of nuclear arms toward realizing a world without such weapons.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida held a news conference with the other foreign ministers after the meeting.

He said they all had a chance to see the real picture of the atom-bombed city. He said he believes the Hiroshima Declaration will have universal significance within the international community.

The 12 members of the NPDI are Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Apr. 12, 2014 - Updated 12:59 UTC