Hiroshima 2014: In search of a nuclear-free world

On April 12, 2014, the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) will hold its 8th ministerial conference in Hiroshima, Japan. The body is presently a coalition of 12 countries within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) formed in 2010 to help implement the Final Document of the 2010 NPT review conference.The 10 countries that […]

On April 12, 2014, the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) will hold its 8th ministerial conference in Hiroshima, Japan. The body is presently a coalition of 12 countries within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) formed in 2010 to help implement the Final Document of the 2010 NPT review conference.
The 10 countries that initiated the forum in 2010 are Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Nigeria and the Philippines joined the initiative in September 2013. The initiative had issued a series of declarations concerning the pace of NPT negotiations and the need to swiftly move on both non-proliferation and disarmament.
The participation by Nigeria and Philippines in the initiative at its 7th meeting in New York last year was endorsed at the group’s foreign ministerial meeting. The Japanese Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, told a press conference then that he welcomed the inclusion of the first member from Africa and the first member from Asia other than Japan, which came under nuclear attack in 1945. According to him, it is hoped that the initiative grows into a group that can show a bigger presence in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
Also in a statement at the New York meeting, the initiative expressed concern by the threats of nuclear weapons posed to humanity and reaffirmed with a sense of urgency its unwavering commitment to achieving and maintaining the shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. It said sustained and high-level political will is critical to achieving this goal.
The body also expressed its gratitude to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General on active and continuing engagement on disarmament issues. The statement added that in 2010, when the NPDI was established, the international community was buoyed by the hope and expectation that grew from the successes of the 2010 NPT review conference, and equipped with a clear roadmap contained in the 64-point action plan to take the agenda forward.
The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology; to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
The NPT represents the only binding commitment in a multi-lateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon states and the conferences to review the operation of the treaty have been held at five-year intervals since the treaty went into effect in 1970. The last was held in the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York in 2010 and the next would be held next year. In fact, each conference had sought to find an agreement on a final declaration that would assess the implementation of the treaty’s provisions and make recommendations on measures to further strengthen it. The president of the review conference was Ambassador Libran N. Cabactulan of the Philippines. However, at the opening of the 2010 review conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed worry over nuclear concerns around the world. He noted that “65 years later, the world still lives under the nuclear shadow.”
The 2010 review conference considered a number of key issues including universality of the treaty; nuclear disarmament, including specific practical measures; nuclear non-proliferation, the promoting and strengthening of safeguards; measures to advance the peaceful use of nuclear energy, safety and security; regional disarmament and non-proliferation; implementation of the 1995 resolution on the Middle East; measures to address withdrawal from the treaty; measures to further strengthen the review process; and ways to promote engagement with civil society in strengthening NPT norms and in promoting disarmament education.
Also, the statement noted that members of the initiative are deeply concerned about the reported build-up of nuclear arsenals by some states, against the clear intent of the international community to rid the world of nuclear weapons and urged those not yet engaged in nuclear disarmament efforts to make a political commitment not to increase their nuclear holdings and to start reducing their arsenals with the objective of their total elimination.
In fact, for the ministerial meeting to hold in Hiroshima portends a significant beacon in the initiative’s history, being one of the places that experienced flight during the 2nd World War  when the “little boy” atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945 killing and injuring many people. Another was dropped in Nagasaki on August 9.
These incidents were reechoed by Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the opening session of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on Nuclear Disarmament on September 26, last year. He said: “Japan is the only country which has ever suffered from the devastation caused by the use of atomic bombs in wartime. We know from experience the aftermath caused by the use of nuclear weapons and their elimination has been Japanese people’s unwavering aspiration since the end of World War II,” and renewed his strong determination to achieve “a world free of nuclear weapons.”
He said, “a world free of nuclear weapons” is a major goal not only of Japan but shared by mankind. He however expressed concern that in reality a massive number of nuclear weapons still remain and in some areas nuclear arsenals are supposedly increasing with a lack of transparency.
Abe noted that the current international situation is more and more unpredictable, “now is the time for revitalizing our efforts in making progress on key nuclear disarmament issues in parallel with nuclear non-proliferation such as the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, as well as the early commencement of negotiation and conclusion of a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”
Few weeks to the 8th foreign ministerial meeting of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI), Prime Minister Abe and the member countries have the opportunity to reiterate their resolve for a world free of nuclear weapons and take practical steps to curb them.
Meanwhile, observers say the manner in which the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament is handled will send a clear message to countries like Iran and North Korea who are said to be working to make the bomb. Though Iran insists it nuclear programme is for peaceful use, Western powers believe otherwise.