The BRICS bloc has invited six new countries to join the group, pledging to champion the "Global South". Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates are the nations invited to join the five-nation bloc.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the host of the three-day BRICS summit in Johannesburg, announced on Thursday that the new members will join the bloc on January 1, 2024. The announcement was made during a a joint media briefing along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He said the decision was agreed upon based on guiding principles and procedures for the group's expansion process.
"We have consensus on the first phase of this BRICS expansion process," Ramaphosa said at the end of the grouping's summit in Johannesburg. "We have decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of BRICS," he said.
"We value the interests of other countries in building partnership with BRICS and have tasked our foreign ministers to further develop the BRICS partnership model and list of prospective countries (which want to join the grouping)," Ramaphosa said
The member nations were earlier divided on how many countries should be admitted to the bloc and how quickly. South Africa officials said over 40 nations have expressed interest in joining the group and 22 have formally asked to be admitted, reported Reuters.
Modi asserted that India has always fully supported expansion of BRICS and the decision to expand the bloc will further strengthen belief of many countries in multipolar world. “The expansion and modernisation of BRICS is a message that all institutions in the world need to mould themselves according to changing times. This is an initiative that can be an example of reforms in other global institutions that were established in the 20th century,” Modi said.
-- with PTI inputs
