BRICS expansion: Saudi, Iran among 6 new countries invited to join world bloc

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.

New Delhi:South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday 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 in a joint media briefing in South Africa.

"We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process and other phases will follow", he added. It is pertinent to note that nearly two dozen countries had formally applied to join the bloc, which represents a quarter of the global economy and more than three billion people. All six new countries have signed agreements to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which India has not become part of.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ramaphosa for the successful summit and reiterated India's full support for the expansion of BRICS membership. "India has always believed that the addition of new members will further strengthen BRICS as an organization 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 during a joint press statement.

He further expressed confidence that BRICS, along with the new members, will be able to infuse new momentum and new energy into the bloc's cooperation. PM Modi noted that India has had very deep and historic relations with new BRICS members, adding that new dimensions will be also added to the bilateral cooperation.

"The expansion and modernization 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,” the prime minister pointed out.

It is worth mentioning that it was China that has been pushing for the expansion of the bloc backed by South Africa and Russia. However, there was speculation that New Delhi was hesitant about the bloc expansion because of China's growing influence and also as India is surging ahead to position itself as the leader of the global South.