Protest letter against the India nuclear test (May 14, 1998)

May 14, 1998

The Honorable Atal Behari Vajpayee
Prime Minister of India

His Excellency Mr. Siddharth Singh
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India
Embassy of India in Japan

Letter of Protest

Despite harsh criticism at home and abroad, your country has proceeded obstinately with additional nuclear tests. I am outraged by this betrayal of efforts in the international community toward nuclear disarmament, and I again vehemently protest your action.

You have declared that these tests were for the purpose of gathering data necessary for implementing subcritical testing, but your stance of turning to nuclear weapons for national security is a clear provocation to Pakistan and other nations. By adopting this stance, you have increased the risk of nuclear proliferation, you have caused India to lose respect in the international community, and you are inviting international isolation.

In the strongest possible terms, I urge you to listen humbly to the voices of the international community calling for a world free from nuclear weapons, accept that nuclear weapons can never truly guarantee national security, and join with the people of Hiroshima in working toward the total abolition of nuclear weapons.

Takashi Hiraoka
Mayor of Hiroshima