New Delhi: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday said that the five BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries have reached an agreement on guiding principles, criteria, and procedures for the BRICS expansion process.
"We have a consensus on the first phase of this BRICS expansion process", the South African President said. "We have decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE to become full members of BRICS. New members will become part of BRICS with effect from January 1, 2024," Ramaphosa added.
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The South African President further said, "We value the interests of other countries in building partnerships with BRICS. We tasked our foreign ministers to further develop the BRICS partnership model, list of prospective countries".
Prime Minister Narendra, on his part, that he was happy that the teams have together agreed on guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures for the expansion of BRICS. "I am confident that we would be able to give new dynamism to BRICS by working with new member countries of grouping," the Prime Minister added.
According to the Prime Minister, the decision to expand BRICS will further strengthen the belief of many countries in a multipolar world. "India has always fully supported the expansion of BRICS, it believed the addition of new members will further strengthen grouping," PM Narendra Modi added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that he was happy that many positive outcomes came out of three days of deliberations during the BRICS summit, which was hosted by South Africa. (With PTI inputs)
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