HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) An international nuclear nonproliferation panel agreed Tuesday on an action plan to reduce nuclear arms as it wrapped up a three-day meeting.
But the International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament refrained from disclosing a target figure for reducing nuclear warheads.
Former Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, cochair of the commission, said after the meeting that the panel must report to the prime ministers and foreign ministers of Australia and Japan ahead of making a public announcement.
The commission, cochaired by Kawaguchi and former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, apparently decided to back off from its initially intended reduction goal due to objections from some nuclear armed states, but the figure is "realistic yet ambitious," Kawaguchi said.
Kawaguchi said she believes atomic bomb survivors will be satisfied with the figure.
A draft report called for reducing the number of the world's nuclear warheads from more than 20,000 at present to 1,000 or fewer by 2025, while urging every nuclear state to commit to a no-first-use doctrine by that year.