PESHAWAR, Feb 10: Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan should disarm themselves as atomic bombs are not a thing of the past and still pose a threat to the world peace, said Emiko Okada, a Hiroshima bombing survivor who is on a peace mission to Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, Miss Okada said there was a need for reconciliation between states possessing nuclear weapons. "The nuclear arsenal brings nothing but destruction, and must be destroyed," observed Miss Okada, a member of the Hiroshima World Peace Mission.

The mission, a project of the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing and sponsored by the Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation and the Chugoku Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, is on a week-long peace mission to Pakistan.

The mission sends Hiroshima bombing survivors to nuclear-armed countries and conflict zones to kindle hope about nuclear disarmament and lasting peace.

Hiroshima citizens have been to South Africa, Iran, China, Korea, UK, France and Spain. The group will also visit USA soon. "The mission is here to convey a spirit of reconciliation between Pakistan and India as both possess nuclear arms," Miss Okada said.

"I also visited India last month where I met parliamentarians and students to convey a message of peace and reconciliation with Pakistan," she said.

Miss Okada had lost all six of her family members in the Hiroshima bombing of August 1945, when she was just eight years old. "Since then I have been appealing for nuclear disarmament. I talk about the experience of atomic bombing as well as facts about the destruction it entails. Even now, war is continuing in many parts of the world and regardless of who wins or lose, the casualties on both sides are always great," she said.

Miss Okada hoped that people and states would resolve issues by dialogue and work for peace.