TOKYO (Kyodo News International) -- Representatives from the atom-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki demanded Friday that the Japanese government halt negotiations with India to seal a civilian nuclear cooperation pact, saying the move hampers international efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons.

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Deputy Nagasaki Mayor Masanobu Chita handed a petition to Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada at the ministry in Tokyo, urging the central government to “sincerely hear voices of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and immediately stop the negotiations on a civilian nuclear pact as well as strive to bolster the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty regime.”
They said signing a bilateral nuclear pact with India would be tantamount to accepting India's status as a nuclear power. The South Asian country possesses nuclear weapons while remaining a non-signatory of the NPT.
In Tokyo earlier in the week, Japan and India held their first round of talks aimed at signing a pact that will pave the way for sales of Japanese nuclear power-generation technology and equipment to India.
Okada told a press conference later Friday, “It would be ideal if India abandoned its nuclear weapons and joined the NPT, but such a scenario is not likely to come true.”
The envisaged pact on civilian nuclear cooperation would press New Delhi to make certain commitments to nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, the minister said.
Okada also indicated it would be meaningless if Japan alone refuses to provide nuclear cooperation to India, as other countries have given the green light to offering nuclear technology and equipment for civilian programs.
Photo: Mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba (2nd L) walks with other mayors including Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki (R), during an anti-nuclear weapons protest rally and march in New York on May 2, 2010. (Reuters photo)
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