Panel calls for drastic cut in nuclear weapons by 2025+

TOKYO, Dec. 15 Kyodo -
An international panel on nuclear nonproliferation called for world leaders to
drastically reduce the number of nuclear weapons from more than 23,000 at
present to 2,000 or less by 2025 in a report released Tuesday.
Yoriko Kawaguchi and Gareth Evans, former Japanese and Australian foreign
ministers who co-chair the International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation
and Disarmament, submitted the report to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
and visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Tokyo.
The report, titled ''Eliminating Nuclear Threats,'' consists of 76
recommendations stemming from a three-day meeting in Hiroshima in October and
aims at building an international consensus in the run-up to a nuclear
nonproliferation treaty review conference at the U.N. headquarters in New York
in May.
The report contains a three-phase action agenda for the short, medium and long
terms covering the periods to 2012, 2025 and beyond 2025 to reduce nuclear
weapons worldwide to zero, designating the first two phases as the
''minimization'' phase and the last as the ''elimination'' phase.
In the action plans aimed at cutting 90 percent or more of the nuclear warheads
in the world, the commission urges Russia and the United States to reduce their
nuclear weapons to 500 each by 2025, from the current estimate of 12,950-13,950
and 9,400-10,400 respectively.
As the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons is still pending, the commission
urges every nuclear-armed state to commit to a ''no first use'' doctrine by the
designated minimization point of 2025, keeping them available only for use in
retaliation if they or their allies come under nuclear attack.
''The report clearly explains how to reduce nuclear weapons, which are defined
as unusable weapons, to zero in practical, detailed steps,'' Kawaguchi told a
press conference in Tokyo. ''I hope the Japanese government will reflect our
recommendations in its policy.''
Also, the commission specifically recommends the United States to stipulate, in
its Nuclear Posture Review due out early next year, a ''sole purpose''
statement for pressuring other nuclear powers to be more forthcoming about
elimination of nuclear weapons.
The statement declares the only purpose of possessing nuclear weapons is to
deter others from using such weapons against them or their allies.
''I think it will be very helpful with Japan going to communicate, not
necessarily publicly but maybe privately, to the U.S. government'' about its
doctrines, such as to stipulate the sole purpose doctrine, Evans told the press
conference, referring to a desirable role for Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada praised the contents of the
report at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry, saying it is a ''quality
road map'' showing the path toward abolition of nuclear weapons.
''I'd like to take it as a valuable guide, though we will not adopt the
measures as government policies as they stand,'' Okada said.
As a way of benchmarking the achievements of its short-term agenda and defining
the way forward, the panel indicated that the U.N. General Assembly would hold
a special session on nuclear disarmament late in 2012.
The commission is an independent global initiative established under the
leadership of the Australian and Japanese governments in 2008.
==Kyodo