Mayors protest approval of U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement
Sep. 17, 2008
by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer
On September 16, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue visited the Prime Minister’s residence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest the approval of the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement by the Nuclear Supplies Group (NSG). They also asked for an explanation of developments leading to approval by the NSG, of which Japan is a member.
The mayors submitted an official protest letter regarding nuclear cooperation offered to India, a non-signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), claiming that “the government of our A-bombed nation is accountable to the public for its actions and its basic stance on nuclear abolition.” Japanese government officials responded that it was an extremely difficult decision in light of efforts to promote nuclear power to counteract global warming, and that the Japanese government’s stance on nuclear abolition had not changed.
After the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mayor Akiba criticized the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement, remarking, “It will cause the collapse of the NPT regime and increase the possibility that nuclear weapons will be used a third time.”
(Originally published on September 17, 2008)
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Japan’s misguided response to the U.S.-India nuclear pact (Sept. 10, 2008)
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On September 16, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue visited the Prime Minister’s residence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest the approval of the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement by the Nuclear Supplies Group (NSG). They also asked for an explanation of developments leading to approval by the NSG, of which Japan is a member.
The mayors submitted an official protest letter regarding nuclear cooperation offered to India, a non-signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), claiming that “the government of our A-bombed nation is accountable to the public for its actions and its basic stance on nuclear abolition.” Japanese government officials responded that it was an extremely difficult decision in light of efforts to promote nuclear power to counteract global warming, and that the Japanese government’s stance on nuclear abolition had not changed.
After the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mayor Akiba criticized the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement, remarking, “It will cause the collapse of the NPT regime and increase the possibility that nuclear weapons will be used a third time.”
(Originally published on September 17, 2008)
Related articles
Sit-in calls for peace on the 7th anniversary of 9/11 (Sept. 15, 2008)
Japan’s misguided response to the U.S.-India nuclear pact (Sept. 10, 2008)
Prime Minister defends approval of U.S.-India nuclear pact (Sept. 10, 2008)
