HIROSHIMA--One of the major themes at the Group of Seven summit, which was held in Hiroshima in May, was working toward a world without nuclear weapons.

Powerful images were conveyed to the world as the G-7 leaders laid wreathes at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and left touching messages after visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

But in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, former Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, 80, said he was left disappointed as the G-7 leaders failed in their mission toward seeking a world free of nuclear weapons.

* * *

After the G-7 summit concluded in Hiroshima in May, what describes my feeling the best is: “Hiroshima was toyed around with.”

I was given a peace award from an Islamic group and made a speech in London in March.

I insisted that the leaders must declare a no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons and pave the way to end the war in Ukraine as a goal to which the G-7 Hiroshima summit should strive.

But the reality was different from what I expected.

The fact that the G-7 leaders visited Hiroshima was a good thing. They must have felt something as people before their feelings as a politician.

But what they saw at the Peace Memorial Museum remains undisclosed. I don’t understand why it has to be hidden.

In September 2008, when I was a mayor, a meeting of Group of Eight lower house speakers, to which legislative heads from major economies, including Russia, attended, was held at the Peace Memorial Park in the city.

They looked at everything in the museum and listened to the story of Akihiro Takahashi, the late director and an atomic bomb survivor himself.

Nancy Pelosi, the then-House speaker, was the highest-ranking incumbent politician from the United States to visit Hiroshima after the bombing.

I don’t understand why Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents Hiroshima in the Diet, couldn’t do the same. It was such a letdown when there was an example to follow.

When we say “Hiroshima,” it has two meanings; “hibakuchi” (place bombed by an atomic bomb) and “hibakusha” (atomic bomb victims).

So, it is only natural for responsibilities and expectations to arise when a G-7 summit is held in Hiroshima.

A message hibakusha wish to deliver is that nuclear weapons must be abolished so that no one else will have to suffer like they did, as well as the “never give up” mantra of Sunao Tsuboi, who dedicated his life to leading an anti-nuclear movement.

However, neither the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons nor nuclear abolishment nor hibakusha are mentioned in the G-7 communique.

The communique ended up tolerating nuclear deterrence, using the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which allows the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China to possess nuclear weapons, as its foundation.

It is a step back from the Leaders Declaration adopted at the G-20 Bali summit in Indonesia last year, which says: “The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.”

The G-7 leaders also issued the Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament statement.

It feels like they tried to give an impression as if the entire Hiroshima gave a seal of approval to the document by putting “Hiroshima” in front of it.

It might send the wrong message to the world that Hiroshima gave a stamp of approval.

It is an insult to add “Hiroshima” to the name of a document that underscores the need for nuclear deterrence and runs counter to respect for hibakusha. They used the “Hiroshima brand” to cover up the nuclear deterrence position.

It is hibakusha who have the power to deter nuclear weapons use. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is meant to take over the role after hibakusha are gone.

If we want to prevent Russia from using nuclear weapons, it is hardly convincing unless the G-7 countries also declare a no-first-use pledge.

I will stay hopeful and continue to show the power of citizens.

* * *

Born in 1942, Akiba worked as a college professor and became a Lower House lawmaker before he was elected as mayor in 1999 to serve three terms until 2011.

He managed the “Akiba Project” between 1979 and 1989 to invite journalists from around the world to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Recognized for his longtime efforts for the abolishment of nuclear weapons, Akiba was given the Ahmadiyya Muslim Prize for the Advancement of Peace by the British-based Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.