BRICS likely to rename itself with six new members slated to join bloc

The BRICS bloc is likely to rechristen itself as the leaders of the bloc, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have now agreed to admit six new members – two from Africa, one from Latin America and three from the Gulf – in order to widen its geopolitical influence.

Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will on January 1 formally join the BRICS, which had come into existence in 2009-10 as a bloc comprising five emerging economies.

As the 15th summit of the BRICS concluded in Johannesburg on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Thursday virtually joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, President Xi Jinping of China, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil to announce the expansion of the bloc.

Ramaphosa, who hosted the summit, told journalists that the BRICS leaders had reached a consensus on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the process to expand the bloc. He also said that the leaders had decided to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

More than 20 nations had submitted applications seeking membership in the bloc, while over 15 others have expressed interest in joining it.

“The expansion and modernization of (the) BRICS is a message that all the institutions of the world should adapt to the circumstances of the changing times," Modi said, adding, “This is such an initiative that can become an example for the reform of other global institutions established in the 20th century.”

While the leaders agreed to admit six of the nations seeking BRICS membership, they decided to recognise some of the others as the partner countries.

“For those other countries that have expressed a desire to join (the) BRICS, India will contribute in building a consensus to welcome them as partner countries,” the prime minister said while addressing media persons along with his counterparts from China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa.

BRICS leaders have tasked the foreign ministers of the five existing member nations to prepare a list of prospective partner countries by the next summit.

With the conflict in Ukraine escalating tension between Russia and the West, Moscow over the past few months supported Beijing’s push for admitting new members and expanding the BRICS, apparently to turn it into a counterweight to the G7 and the G20 as well as a challenger to the United States and the European Union, particularly on global economic issues.

New Delhi has been stressing that BRICS should first frame rules to expand the bloc and set criteria for admitting new members. It had concerns over the attempts by Beijing and Moscow to speed up the expansion of the bloc as such a move could have further complicate its strategic balancing between its decades-old strategic partnership with Russia and its expanding ties with the US and the rest of the West.

India, however, changed its tack closer to the summit in South Africa and focussed on admitting its own strategic partners in the BRICS to make sure that China could not take advantage and dominate the bloc after its expansion.

Five of the six nations, chosen for admission, have strategic partnerships with India – Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, and the UAE.

“India has deep and historic relationships with all these countries (ones shortlisted for admission),” the prime minister said. “With the help of (the) BRICS, we will also add new dimensions to our bilateral cooperation (with those countries),” he added.

Xi called the expansion of the BRICS membership ‘historic’. “The expansion is also a new starting point for the BRICS cooperation. It will bring new vigour to the BRICS cooperation mechanism and further strengthen the force for world peace and development,” said the Chinese President.