New York –

A U.N. committee on disarmament passed by a majority vote Friday a Japan-proposed resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The resolution mentioned the selection of Nihon Hidankyo, the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, and comes amid a tense security environment.

At a meeting of the First Committee of the U.N. General Assembly, 145 countries including the United States and Britain voted for the resolution, while six countries including China, Russia and North Korea voted against it. France abstained.

This is the 31st consecutive year that Japan has submitted such a resolution. The full General Assembly is expected to adopt it in early December.

The latest resolution notes that "achieving a world without nuclear weapons is a common goal for the international community."

To realize the goal, the resolution calls on all countries to promote interactions with hibakusha atomic bomb survivors such as those who belong to Nihon Hidankyo, who have been working to "pass on their experiences to the future generations through long-standing grass-roots efforts around the world."

The resolution also expresses "deep concern" at the ongoing actions against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, saying that such actions "make the threat of nuclear weapons use today higher than at any time since the heights of the Cold War."

Furthermore, the resolution clarifies that North Korea, which is continuing with its nuclear and missile development programs, "cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear-weapon state" under the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons.