Manpreet Sethi
On December 2, 2022, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a 15-member International Group of Eminent Persons from nuclear and non-nuclear states to initiate discussions on steps towards universal nuclear disarmament. The first meeting of the group was held on December 10-11, 2022, in Hiroshima, his hometown. The choice of the venue turned out to be both emotional and educational. Visiting ground zero, hearing from the hibakushas (survivors of the atomic bombing) on what they were doing on the morning of August 6, 1945, and engaging with the Japanese youth and civil society, who appealed to the members to show courage in identifying bold steps for the elimination of nuclear weapons, added a sombre dimension to the deliberations. Clearly, the challenges to moving towards a nuclear weapons-free world in the current circumstances are humongous, as acknowledged by PM Kishida himself.
