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2015 December 9 - 15 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Hiroshima & Nagasaki mayors oppose nuclear deal with India

December 11 & 12, 2015
Hiroshima City Mayor Matsui Kazumi and Nagasaki City Mayor Taue Tomihisa on December 9 submitted to the Japanese government a joint written request demanding a halt to the ongoing negotiations regarding an atomic energy agreement with India.

Japan’s Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on December 12. In the summit meeting, PM Abe is aiming to reach a broad agreement with his Indian counterpart on a nuclear accord. The bilateral agreement under negotiation is designed to enable Japan to export Japanese nuclear power plants and nuclear technology to that country.

The submitted document points out that the nuclear deal will create a potential danger that India may develop advanced atomic weapons using the nuclear technology provided by Japan. It goes on to stress that this move is hampering efforts being made by many citizens, including A-bomb survivors, to abolish all nuclear arms in the world.

The written demand also refers to the fact that India has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It warns that if Japan continues with the nuclear talks with India, it will lead to undermining the global framework under the NPT.

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On the evening of December 11, the Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes (MCAN) staged its weekly Friday protest action in front of the prime minister’s office in Tokyo with 750 people taking part.

A 60-year-old man from Tokyo’s Ota Ward, said, “Why is the Japanese leader making a pitch overseas to sell Japanese-made nuclear reactors while the 2011 Fukushima disaster has yet to be brought under control? It’s absolutely intolerable that Japan, the only nation in the world to have endured atomic bombings, will help India to expand its nuclear armaments.”

Japanese Communist Party lawmakers Fujino Yasufumi and Saito Kazuko joined this action and gave speeches in solidarity.

Past related article:
> Abenomics infrastructure export would damage lives of local people [December 11, 2014]
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