Hiroshima, Japan: Japan commemorated the 78th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima. On the occasion, the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Fumio Kishida, expressed his objection to Russian threats to use nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Hiroshima Mr. Kazumi Matsui urged the abolishment of nuclear weapons and called the G7 leaders’ concept of nuclear deterrence a “folly.”
The bomb, called Little Boy, was dropped on Hiroshima on 6th August 1945, taking the lives of around 140,000 people. Three days later, the US again dropped atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities, days before the end of World War II.
Japan, as the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings in war, will continue efforts towards a nuclear-free world.
Prime Minister Mr. Fumio Kishida stated.
“The path towards it is becoming increasingly difficult because of deepening divisions in the international community over nuclear disarmament and Russia’s nuclear threat. Given this situation, it is all the more important to bring back international momentum towards realisation of a nuclear-free world,” the PM said.
The destruction brought to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by nuclear weapons can never be repeated, Mr. Kishida added.
UN chief Mr. Antonio Guterres noted in a statement that, “some countries are recklessly rattling the nuclear sabre once again, threatening to use these tools of annihilation. In the face of these threats, the global community must speak as one. Any use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable.”
Thousands of people, including the survivors and foreign officials from 111 countries, have prayed for those who were killed in the bombing and called for world peace. Hiroshima did not invite Russia or Belarus to the ceremony for the second straight year because of the Ukraine crisis, as per the statement.