India, Aug. 6 -- Hiroshima marked the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombing on Thursday, with Mayor Kazumi Matsui urging world leaders to abandon nuclear deterrence and warning that growing reliance on nuclear weapons risks repeating the devastation suffered by Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Speaking at the annual memorial ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Matsui criticised major powers for pursuing military force and justifying nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence.

"Downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accepting the use of force to pursue one's own prosperity risk cycles of violent retaliation that could ultimately result in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki," he said, calling on governments and citizens alike to wor...