Johannesburg: BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa: 6 more countries become members. The new members include Argentina, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The names of the new members were declared by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa while he was announcing the summit’s outcome during an address on August 24.
Official sources earlier informed Reuters that the BRICS group of developing nations was on the verge of extending invitations to potential new members.
This move holds the potential to open the doors for numerous interested countries to align with a coalition committed to championing the interests of the “Global South”.
No Pakistan in BRICS
Numerous nations like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey expressed their interest in joining the alliance. In an attempt to include more developing nations in the BRICS alliance and to expand the number of members, China took an initiative and advocated to include Pakistan, but it created a diplomatic tiff and might dissolve the entire alliance.
India’s stance on expansion
China’s proposition met with strong opposition from India initially as the latter expressed concerns about the dilution of the alliance’s fundamental objectives should the expansion come to life. India pointed out that inclusion of more members could lead to the possible weakening of the existing consensus amongst its current members. India also opposed an earlier bid made by Belarus to become a member of BRICS.
India’s initial objection was however reversed on August 23, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed and advocated for expansion of the five-member organization, citing India’s sincere commitment to the nations of the Global South as the reason.
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