US President sends message towards a world without nuclear weapons

“I hope the stories it holds remind us all of our obligation to build a peaceful future…Together, let us continue to make progress toward the day when we can finally and forever rid the world of nuclear weapons,” President Biden wrote as he and other Group of Seven (G7) leaders visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on May 19, kicking off a three-day G7 summit in the western Japanese city.

Mr. Biden is the second sitting US president after former President Barack Obama to set foot in Hiroshima. This is also the first time that all G7 leaders, including the three nuclear powers, the US, UK and France, have visited the Hiroshima Memorial Museum.

The Hiroshima Memorial Museum displays belongings left behind by victims, photographs and other documents showing the horrific aftermath of the US atomic bombing of the city on August 6, 1945. The bombing is estimated to have killed 140,000 people by the end of 1945.

The second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on August 9, 1945, causing Japan to surrender six days later, leading to the end of World War II.

Prime Minister Kishida, who pushed for the decision to hold the summit in Hiroshima, stressed the need for G7 leaders to see firsthand the consequences of the use of atomic bombs, given the lack of momentum toward a world without nuclear weapons. Before leaving for Hiroshima, the Japanese leader pledged to push for a world without nuclear weapons at the G7 summit.

According to VNA