By Katsuhiro Asagiri and Ramesh Jaura<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TOKYO | HIROSHIMA (IDN) \u2013 Striving for a nuclear-weapons-free world holds a special place in Kazakh-Japan relations, according to President Nursultan Nazarbayev who on November 9 visited Hiroshima that suffered U.S. atomic bombings along with Nagasaki 71 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nazarbayev was on a three-day official visit to Japan less than two months before it joins the UN Security Council in January as its non-permanent member for two-years until the end of 2018. In the first year it would be working closely with Japan before Tokyo’s two-year term in the Council comes to a close at the end of 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2017 will also mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While calling for \u201cthe consolidation of the forces of Kazakhstan and Japan and our joint initiatives”, he urged “world leaders to renounce nuclear testing in order to prevent another nuclear tragedy”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nazarbayev stated he had reached an agreement with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on undertaking “joint efforts for building a world free of the threat of weapons of mass destruction”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nazarbayev, who was awarded the title of special honorary citizen of Hiroshima, said: \u201cVisiting the Memorial Peace Park of Hiroshima once again reinforced my belief in the importance we place on the field of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui thanked the Kazakh President, adding: \u201cOn August 29, 1991, you closed the Semipalatinsk (former Soviet) nuclear test site, based on the wishes of the people of Kazakhstan. You took the initiative to create a nuclear weapons-free zone in Central Asia and to announce August 29 as International Day against Nuclear Tests. You play a leading role in building a world without nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier during the meeting in Tokyo with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, who hails from Hiroshima, Nazarbayev said: \u201cJapan and Kazakhstan are leaders in the anti-nuclear movement. I am confident that we will jointly keep our work on this issue.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe feel sincere respect for your leadership since Kazakhstan has gained independence. The fact that Kazakhstan was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018 indicates your successful leadership,\u201d Kishida noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing Japan’s Parliament on November 8 in Tokyo, the Kazakh President drew attention to his manifesto ‘The World. The 21st Century’<\/em> tabled on March 31, 2016 at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nazarbayev said: \u201cThe world creeps in a new nuclear age \u2013 potentially more dangerous and unpredictable. One of the most serious problems of the 21st century is the threat of nuclear terrorism, as well as illicit trafficking in nuclear and radioactive materials.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added: “An unprecedented crisis of confidence between the global players leads to the degradation of safeguards to prevent the use of nuclear weapons. Today, as never before, the political will of all leaders is required in order to reverse these negative trends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nazarbayev pointed to steps taken by Kazakhstan to strengthen international security and stressed the importance of joint efforts to build a world free of the nuclear threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe see an important task in the establishment of a global anti-nuclear movement. That is exactly the goal promoted by The ATOM Project that was proposed by our country. I invite our Japanese friends to support this initiative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ATOM Project \u2013 ‘A<\/strong>bolish T<\/strong>esting. O<\/strong>ur M<\/strong>ission’ \u2013 is an international campaign designed to do more than create awareness surrounding the human and environmental devastation caused by nuclear weapons testing. It hopes to affect real and lasting change by engaging millions of global citizens to permanently stop nuclear weapons testing by joining together to show the world\u2019s leaders that the world\u2019s citizens deserve and demand a world without nuclear weapons testing, says the project website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n