Nagasaki: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed to exercise leadership for the abolition of nuclear weapons at a meeting of an international group of experts on Saturday.

“I am determined to continue to demonstrate strong leadership while gaining the wisdom of the group,” Kishida told the third meeting of the International Group of Eminent Persons for a World without Nuclear Weapons.

The meeting, chaired by Takashi Shiraishi, chancellor of the Prefectural University of Kumamoto, was held through Saturday in the southwestern Japan city of Nagasaki, one of the two Japanese cities devastated by the August 1945 U.S. atomic bombings.

At the closing ceremony, Kishida said, “It is very meaningful that (the experts) deepened their understanding of the reality of the atomic bombings and discussed fundamental issues toward nuclear disarmament.”

“I would like to think together about a concrete path toward a world free of nuclear weapons, a common ideal of mankind,” he continued.

Ahead of the ceremony, Kishida met with Tamashii Honda, who heads an association of bereaved families of Nagasaki atomic bomb victims.

At the closing ceremony, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said in a video message that it is extremely important to strengthen responsible codes of conduct amid rising tensions around the world.

JIJI Press