Dear friends,
It is my long-standing desire to be in Hiroshima on the 6th of August to pay tribute to the victims of the atomic bombs. I would like to thank you for this opportunity and convey to all of you the warmest greetings of peace and solidarity!
On this day in nineteen forty-five, the life of the ever biggest number of innocent people were terminated by an atomic bomb. This day will remain for ever the "Day of Conscientious"-the day urging all peace and justice loving people to accelerate the struggle against nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction.
Dear friends,
The world today is facing serious challenges posed by the aggressive wars, violence, foreign interference, arms race, particularly by the accumulation of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. These are real threats to peace and security, national independence and sovereignty, to the very existence of humankind. At the same time, we can see that the peace-loving and anti-wars movements are growing up in Japan as well as in many countries of the world. We came here today from various places in Japan and from different countries, with various political trends, different cultural traditions and social backgrounds. But we all share common will of struggling for a world without wars and nuclear weapons, for a world of more justice. This gives us the confidence that the peace-loving people of the world will surely win.
I would like to express sincere thanks from Vietnamese people to you, to people from all countries who have been supporting our struggle for peace in the independence and freedom. The Vietnamese people will be for ever adherent to its traditions, will be always in solidarity with people of other countries in the common cause for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress.
I wish you all a good health and great success! Thank you very much!