Argentina, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Egypt are among the six new BRICS members.
The BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—announced on Thursday that the grouping’s long-anticipated expansion will proceed.
According to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, and Ethiopia will join BRICS. The six nations are anticipated to join the organization on January 1, 2024.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the extension of the five-nation bloc, saying that it will strengthen the faith of many nations in a multipolar international order.
In the middle of the 2000s, BRICS was founded by four nations. The first presidents’ summit of the BRICS countries took place in Russia in 2009. South Africa was added to the BRICS in 2010.
This action could pave the way for several interested nations to join a coalition dedicated to advancing the interests of the “Global South.”
During a press conference with the other BRICS presidents, Modi stated, “As I said yesterday, India has always fully supported the expansion of the membership of BRICS.”
Modi congratulated the BRICS nations that have joined, saying, “I am pleased that our teams were able to build agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures of expansion.”
India and China were said to be at odds over the expansion of the BRICS. According to experts, China was attempting to woo a number of nations that shared its skeptical view of the West.
Prior to the meeting, which is taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa, media sources highlighted Chinese officials who suggested that the BRICS should unite as a group to compete with the G7.
India’s position on enlargement
India pushed for the establishment of policies and processes that would control which nations might join the BRICS, even though it had not blocked the BRICS’ expansion. Over 20 nations have submitted applications to join BRICS, according to South African authorities who spoke before the summit. Rumored names included, among others, Cuba, the Comoros, Bolivia, Algeria, and Indonesia.
No Pakistan in the BRICS
An additional degree of complexity was added to the current events by China’s prior attempt to get Pakistan into the BRICS alliance. China’s justification for this proposal is that it thinks the BRICS coalition should include more members to accommodate more developing countries.
