Tokyo — India’s Ambassador to Japan, Nagma Mallick, honored the victims of the Hiroshima atomic bombing on Thursday by laying flowers at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. This visit marked the 81st anniversary of the tragic event during the last days of World War II.
Ambassador Mallick participated in a reception for diplomats and spoke with Hiroshima Governor Mika Yokota and Mayor Kazumi Matsui. She also took part in the annual Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony.
The ambassador joined local leaders, including Matsui, Chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly Takashi Nakamoto, and President of the Hiroshima Japan-India Association Kazuhisa Matsumoto, to lay a wreath at a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. The Indian Embassy later expressed gratitude on social media to members of the Indian community in Japan who attended the ceremony and those who work to strengthen India-Japan relations.
On August 6, 1945, the U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped a uranium bomb on Hiroshima, leading to the deaths of an estimated 140,000 people by the end of that year due to the blast and its aftermath.
During Thursday’s ceremony, Hiroshima reiterated its plea for the elimination of nuclear weapons, emphasizing their devastating potential. Mayor Matsui, in a poignant Peace Declaration, warned against the dangers of normalizing nuclear arms and using force for personal gain, suggesting that such actions could lead to repeated tragedies like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
At 8:15 a.m., the exact time the bomb exploded in 1945, attendees observed a moment of silence. Approximately 50,000 people participated in the ceremony at Peace Memorial Park, including representatives from 121 countries and the European Union.
