Saudi Arabia, Iran, and UAE are among a select list of six countries to join BRICS as new members next year.
The BRICS group of nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) has invited six new countries to join the bloc.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current chair of the BRICS grouping, said that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE have been invited to join the BRICS as part of the first phase of expansion. The new membership will be effective from January 1, 2024.
“As a five BRICS countries, we have reached an agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures on the BRICS expansion process which has been in discussion for quite a while,” Ramaphosa said. “We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process and other phases will follow.”
All six new entrants have signed agreements to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which India has not become part of.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ramaphosa for the successful summit and said India has always fully supported the expansion of BRICS membership. “India has always believed that the addition of new members will further strengthen BRICS as an organisation and it will give our shared efforts a new impetus. This will also strengthen the belief of many countries in the multipolar world order,” PM Modi said.
