BRICS decides to admit 6 countries as new members

Johannesburg: In a landmark move, the top leaders of the BRICS nations on Thursday decided to admit Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as full members of the grouping that is largely seen as a counterweight to Western powers.

The decision to induct the six countries to join the bloc from January 1 next year was announced by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the final day of the annual summit of the BRICS that currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

“We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process, and further phases will follow,” Ramaphosa, flanked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said at a media briefing at the end of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

The decision to expand the bloc is seen as an effort to reshape global governance while putting the voices of the Global South as a key priority area to advance the overall development agenda.

In his media statement, Modi said the “expansion and modernisation” of BRICS is a message that all institutions in the world need to mould themselves according to changing times.

“India has always fully supported the expansion of the BRICS membership. India has been of the view that the addition of new members will further strengthen BRICS as an organisation, and give a new impetus to all our common endeavours,” he said.

With the entry of the six countries, the total number of members in the grouping is reaching 11 from the current five.

Around 40 countries had shown interest in joining BRICS out of which 23 formally applied for the membership.

The grouping took shape in September 2006 and it originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). It was renamed as BRICS after South Africa was accepted as a full member in September 2010.

At present, the BRICS represents 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade. The BRICS member nations have been the main engines of global economic growth over the years.