Barack Obama calls for 'world without nuclear weapons' during historic visit to Hiroshima

He is the first serving US President to visit the Japanese city

Barack Obama has called for a "world without nuclear weapons" in an emotional speech during his historic visit to Hiroshima.

“We may not be able to eliminate man’s capacity to do evil, so nations and the alliances we have formed must possess the means to defend ourselves,” he told a crowd including the Japanese Prime Minister and survivors of the atomic bombing.

“But among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them.

“We may not realise this goal in my lifetime but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe.”

He is the first serving American President to visit the Japanese city, where the US dropped its first atomic bomb in 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the initial blast and devastating radiation.

“Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed,” Mr Obama said.

“A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.

“Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in the not-so-distant past.

“We come to mourn the dead…their souls speak to us, they ask us to look inward, take stock of who we are and what we might become.”

Mr Obama listed Japanese men, women and children, Koreans and American prisoners among those killed.

“Technological progress without equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us,” he continued. “The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of the atom requires a moral revolution as well.

“This is why we come to this place. We stand here, in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell.

“We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry.

“The world was forever changed here but, today, the children of this city will go through their day in peace. What a precious thing that is.”

The President, whose predecessor Harry Truman made the decision to launch the world’s first nuclear strike, spoke with survivors of the attack who had gathered at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

He was seen embracing one elderly man who appeared overcome with emotion.

US President Barack Obama hugs Shigeaki Mori, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima (AFP/Getty Images)

He did not apologise for the decision to bomb the city but paid tribute to the victims and decried the horrors of war.

In a guest book at the memorial park, where he also laid a wreath, Mr Obama wrote: “We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.”

The Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, said the visit opens a new chapter in reconciliation between the US and Japan and said he respected his counterpart for deciding to visit Hiroshima.

Mr Abe said the tragedy of Hiroshima must not be repeated again and that he and Mr Obama are determined to realise a world free of nuclear weapons, no matter how difficult that is to achieve.

The US President also used his speech to condemn the justification of violence “in the name of some higher cause”.

“Every great religion promises a pathway to love and peace and righteousness, and yet no religion has been spared from believers who have claimed that their faith is a license to kill,” he said.

“Nations arise telling a story that binds people together…but those same stories have so often been used to oppress and dehumanise those who are different.”

He called for the world to embrace the notion of a "single human family" to move beyond conflict. Mr Obama concluded: "Those who died (in Hiroshima) - they are like us."