KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — Japan has requested to take part in the international panel of experts looking into the Malaysia Airlines MH370 tragedy, said Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

He said Japan was welcomed to join in as the panel was transparent and credible.

“We have no problem getting people to come on board because the whole world wants to know about MH370 and, like I said before, probably what we find out about MH370 will change the history of aviation,” he told reporters.

Hishammuddin had earlier received a courtesy visit from his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera at the Defence Ministry in Jalan Semarak here today.

He noted that Malaysia and Japan were keen to continue working on issues like ensuring peace and stability in the region, disaster relief, sharing information on counter-terrorism and the defence industry.

On reports that Japan had withdrawn from the search operation for the missing aircraft, Hishammuddin said: “It’s very far from the truth. Its defence minister came just now to ask what more they could do to help.

“This shows their commitment to the search effort is still strong.”

This was the first meeting between Hishammuddin and Onodera since the latter became Japan’s defence minister in December, 2012.

Flight MH370 with 239 people on board disappeared on March 8 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. 

An undersea search operation headed by Australia is currently being conducted in the waters off Perth, Australia. — Bernama