THE Secretary-General of United Nations, António Guterres has raised alarm over threat of use of nuclear weapons.
In a video message at a Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan on Thursday to mark the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Guterres observed that the risk of nuclear weapons being used “intentionally, by accident or through miscalculation’,” is high.
According to him, ““States possessing nuclear weapons are modernising their arsenals and developing new and dangerous weapons and delivery systems.
“The risk of nuclear weapons being used, intentionally, by accident or through miscalculation, is too high for such trends to continue.
““Today, a world without nuclear weapons seems to be slipping further from our grasp.
“The web of arms control, transparency and confidence-building instruments established during the Cold War and its aftermath is fraying.
“Division, distrust and a lack of dialogue threaten to return the world to unrestrained strategic nuclear competition.
“Countries should return to a common vision and path leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons’’.
While noting that more than 40 countries have signed a treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, the Secretary-General descibed the victims and survivors of the Hiroshima bombing, as epitomes of “resilience, reconciliation and hope’’.
He stated, “this city and its people have chosen not to be characterised by calamity, but instead by resilience, reconciliation and hope.
“As unmatched advocates for nuclear disarmament, the hibakusha (survivors) have turned their tragedy into a rallying voice for the safety and well-being of all humanity.”
