BRICS: 6 more countries to become members; Details You Should Know

BRICS: BRICS adds six new members, including Argentina, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Countries comprising BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — announced on Thursday that the anticipated expansion of the group will proceed.

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, and Ethiopia will join, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. The six nations are expected to join the organization on 1 January 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded the expansion of the five-nation group, stating that “through this step, the faith of numerous nations in a multipolar world order will be strengthened.”

BRICS was founded by four nations in the middle of the 2000s. In 2009, Russia hosted the first summit of leaders. South Africa was added in 2010.

This action has the potential to allow numerous interested nations to join a coalition dedicated to promoting the interests of the “Global South.”

“As I stated yesterday, India has always supported the expansion of BRICS membership,” Modi said during a joint press conference with the other BRICS leaders.

Modi, congratulating the new BRICS members, stated, “I am pleased that our teams were able to reach consensus on the expansion’s guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures.”

India and China were rumored to be at odds over the expansion of BRICS. Experts hypothesized that China was attempting to recruit a number of countries that shared its anti-Western worldview.

Chinese officials were cited in media reports prior to the Johannesburg, South Africa, summit as arguing that the BRICS should form a coalition to compete with the G7.

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India’s expansion posture

While India did not oppose the expansion, it did advocate for the establishment of rules and procedures governing which countries could join the bloc. Prior to the summit, South African officials stated that over 20 countries had applied to join. Among the names rumored were Cuba, the Comoros, Bolivia, Algeria, and Indonesia.

No Involvement of Pakistan

China’s earlier efforts to incorporate Pakistan into the BRICS alliance sparked a diplomatic dilemma and added a layer of complication to the ongoing proceedings. China’s motivation for this initiative originates from its belief that the alliance should accept a larger membership, thereby including more developing nations.