The Japanese government is deeply concerned over expectations of an increase in the global nuclear arsenal, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Hirokazu Matsuno said on Tuesday.

He was commenting on SIPRI’s expectations that the number of nuclear weapons in the world is set to grow, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

“We are positive about the reduction of nuclear arsenals, but we are concerned about the possible growth of nuclear weapons in the next decade,” the Japanese official said.

Matsuno added that Japan, as the only country in the world that has been attacked by a nuclear weapon, is calling for its abolition.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) announced in its annual report that nine countries possessed estimated 13,865 nuclear weapons today, 600 less than 2018 figures.

“Of these 13,865 nuclear weapons; 3,750 [nuclear warheads] are deployed with operational forces and nearly 2,000 of these are kept in a state of high operational alert,” the report read.

According to SIPRI, the number of total nuclear weapons, possessed by the U.S. and Russia, correspond to 90% of all nuclear weapons as these countries currently have 6,185 and 6,500 nuclear warheads respectively.

News.Az