Hiroshima: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday pledged to present a road map toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.

At a press conference in the western city of Hiroshima, Kishida noted the importance of “ensuring national security and bringing the reality closer to the ideal of a world without nuclear weapons at the same time.”

“It is the responsibility of politics to present a road map for this,” he said.

Kishida was responding to criticism that the Hiroshima Vision document on nuclear disarmament is premised on the current nuclear deterrent system. The document was adopted at the Group of Seven Hiroshima summit in May, which Kishida chaired.

“It is important to carry out tasks one by one. We need to continue and strengthen realistic and practical efforts,” he said, referring to calls for putting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force early.

Kishida said that an event related to a proposed Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty will be held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September.

JIJI Press