Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio will present a road map to realize a world without nuclear weapons at a Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference in New York from Monday.

Kishida, the first Japanese prime minister to attend an NPT review conference, arrived in New York on Sunday night before discussing the road map in a speech to be delivered at the U.N. headquarters Monday.

In the speech, Kishida is expected to call on the world to make practical efforts toward nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.

He is also seen urging nuclear nations to disclose information on their nuclear forces, apparently bearing in mind a lack of transparency in China’s moves to expand its nuclear capabilities.

As a lawmaker elected from Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities hit by U.S. atomic bombs in August 1945 in the closing days of World War II, Kishida is expected to show his strong opposition to threatening to or actually using nuclear weapons, with concerns mounting that Russia may use such weapons amid its military aggression against Ukraine.

Regarding North Korea’s nuclear weapons development, Kishida will call for international cooperation to eliminate such weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

Before attending the conference, Kishida said he “will make utmost efforts so that meaningful results will be achieved.” He hopes to serve as a bridge between nuclear and nonnuclear states to ensure that participants will reach an agreement.

After delivering his speech, Kishida will join a meeting of foreign ministers under the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Initiative, which brings together 12 nonnuclear states including Japan and Australia.

He will also meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

JIJI Press