Peace activists demand the complete elimination of nuclear weapons as the only durable means to achieve peace. Policymakers governing the destiny of nations disagree. Many countries like India agree that nuclear weapons need to be removed, but want the elimination process to be equal and across the board. They say the current mechanism in place -- like the treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons -- are discriminatory in nature, designed to maintain the monopoly of the original nuclear powers.
The original nuclear powers -- the US, Russia, China, Britain and France -- contend that nukes are an integral part of their security framework.
Every year people pray that the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be revisited.
Photograph: Junko Kimura/Getty Images
