Editor's note: Hayat Bangash is a Pakistani freelance columnist on international affairs with degrees in business administration and war studies. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is not well known for abjuring his country's past militarism. But in the Japanese parliament on February 28, he explicitly stated that he will not enter into a nuclear sharing agreement with the United States.

Nuclear sharing is a precarious strategy that allows the deployment of American nuclear weapons in other countries as part of the U.S. and NATO deterrence.

The need for Kishida to rebut the possibility emerged after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated a day earlier in a TV program not to put a taboo on the discussion.

Abe's call raised alarm in non-proliferation circles, considering how detrimental AUKUS's nuclear submarine deal between Australia, the U.S., and the UK has already proved in limiting the spread of nuclear-powered military systems in the Asia Pacific. Plus, a greater number of countries hosting American nuclear weapons will inevitably surge the American nuclear arsenal.

Kishida did dilute the concerns, as his reiteration of Japan's commitment not to produce, process, or allow nuclear arms on Japanese soil helps slow down nuclear proliferation in the region and among other U.S. partners.

It is important for Japan, an American ally, to pursue its independent strategic priorities in like manner instead of taking direct unconsidered dictation from the United States. After unceremoniously exiting the Middle East and Afghanistan, the U.S. has focused its energies on the Asia Pacific and is militarizing and nuclearizing the region in a bid to challenge China's peaceful economic rise.

Japan must remember that it is not the U.S. that will be affected by the developments in the Asia Pacific. The region's countries, which include Japan and China, are the most affected by the security threats coming from external forces.

Japan should thus not let itself be used as a pawn. Seeing the American policy of pitching friends against rivals unfold in Ukraine is a sign that American assurances of direct involvement are now stretched to the limit.

Nuclear sharing is another assurance that has gone redundant. In the age of long-range intercontinental and hypersonic platforms, it is now possible for advanced militaries to aim at any point on the earth. If the U.S. can deploy such weapons on its own territory, placing its nuclear weapons in other countries becomes unnecessary and illegal.

Illegal because nuclear sharing is a violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as it transfers nuclear weapons to non-nuclear states. Japan, too, is a party to the NPT and whichever way the U.S. may interpret the treaty, Kishida should continue to uphold his country's obligations.

Then there is the deployment of thousands of American soldiers in Japan. If instead of them, it comes down to the nuclear option to serve the deterrent aims of the U.S., then the arrangement is a failure of the U.S.-Japan alliance. It is then time to ask some hard questions on the billions being spent on stationing American forces and conventional military equipment.

Nuclear deals also do not strengthen political cohesions – if Abe was thinking on these lines. A case in point is the fissure in the transatlantic alliance. Europe is under continuous pressure from the U.S. to increase its defense spending, whereas European capitals are debating the formation of their own security force as an alternative to NATO.

Likewise, it was a nuclear deal – AUKUS – that brought the strain in America's security relations with France and the EU out in the open.

Japan, meanwhile, is not a NATO member. The question Kishida should be asking Abe is that by hosting American nuclear weapons, is their country ready to get embroiled in NATO's adventures, internal rivalries, and, most importantly, the refusal to rule out no-first-use.

Unlike Abe, Kishida has been elected from a Hiroshima constituency. He has a far closer observation of the devastation of nuclear weapons. He is also likely more mindful of the fact that the U.S. is the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons. To facilitate the nuclear dispersion of a trigger-happy foreign power will be too much for him to bear personally and politically.

The Japanese right-wing must not follow the extremist leanings of their American counterparts. The example of the previous American presidency that right-wing's entrenchment gave rise to is apt for Japan. Even the idea of nuclearizing Japan's security environment is dangerous for a nation that has forsworn nuclear weapons for the good.

Having learned first-hand from the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons, Japan should continue to raise its voice against nuclear sharing. While the renewed calls of nuclear sharing translate only to warmongering, Kishida's principle stand will go a long way in ensuring that the horrors of 1945 are not repeated.

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