Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses the third meeting of the International Group of Eminent Persons for a World without Nuclear Weapons in Nagasaki on Dec. 9. (Kengo Hiyoshi)

NAGASAKI--A group of experts discussing ways to rid the world of nuclear weapons ended two days of talks here without reaching specific agreement in part due to differences over the merits of deterrence and the importance of a nuclear ban treaty.

The International Group of Eminent Persons for a World without Nuclear Weapons, established last year under the leadership of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, held its third meeting on Dec. 8-9.

It comprises experts from nuclear powers, such as the United States, Russia and China, and non-nuclear weapon states. The meeting was closed to the public, in principle.

At a news conference after the meeting, Takashi Shiraishi, who chairs the group, said members discussed “extremely difficult issues that must be overcome.”

He cited three major areas of contention: the deterioration of security and the global strategic environment; the impact of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies on nuclear disarmament; and nuclear ethics and norms.

Still, Shiraishi, chancellor of the Prefectural University of Kumamoto, emphasized that members reached a consensus on maintaining the norm of not resorting to nuclear warfare, thereby cementing Nagasaki’s place in history as the last city to suffer the horrors of atomic bombing.

The group will continue discussions toward the review conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons scheduled for 2026.

“The international community has become even more divided over how to advance nuclear disarmament. I cannot but admit that the fundamental issues toward nuclear disarmament still lie ahead,” Kishida said during the closing session.

“Under such circumstances, however, it is more and more important to advance realistic and practical efforts and to build international momentum toward nuclear disarmament by continuing discussions without hesitation.”

The group held its inaugural meeting in Hiroshima in December last year and the second meeting in Tokyo in April.

While Kishida positions the eminent persons’ group as a “bridge” between the nuclear powers and non-nuclear weapon states, he has maintained Japan’s reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

The G-7 Leaders’ Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament, a document adopted at the Group of Seven summit that Kishida chaired in Hiroshima in May, referred to the need for nuclear deterrence, which relies on nuclear weapons to make an enemy think twice before mounting an attack.

Signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which held a second meeting in New York from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, said in a declaration that they “will not stand by as spectators to increasing nuclear risks and the dangerous perpetuation of nuclear deterrence.”

But the nuclear powers, as well as Japan, have not signed the nuclear ban treaty. Japan did not participate in the signatories meeting in New York even as an observer.

Members of the eminent persons’ group met with hibakusha atomic bomb survivors ahead of the meeting on Dec. 8.

Shigemitsu Tanaka, 83, who heads the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, said it was meaningful that the thoughts of hibakusha were heard.

Still, he had some harsh words for Kishida’s leadership.

“I feel that the prime minister is using the group to get publicity,” Tanaka said. “I doubt if he is seriously working for nuclear abolition. He is talking the talk but not walking the walk.”

(This article was written by Takashi Ogawa and Emika Terashima.)

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