Visiting U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon requested on Wednesday that Japan dispatch helicopters to U.N. peacekeeping missions although Tokyo recently gave up on its plan to send Self-Defense Forces choppers to a U.N. mission in Sudan, a Japanese official said.
In a meeting with Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, Ban expressed gratitude for Japan's swift dispatch of SDF personnel to a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti after the country was hit by a devastating earthquake in January and told Kitazawa the world body anticipates more contributions from Japan.
Ban said Japan's decision not to send helicopters to Sudan was regrettable but the United Nations respects a sovereign nation's policy.