The bloc will also welcome Argentina, Egypt, and Ethiopia in 2024, according to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In January, six nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, will join the BRICS group of developing nations.
At the BRICS conference in Johannesburg on Thursday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed that Argentina, Egypt, and Ethiopia would also be joining the group in 2024.
BRICS is currently made up of South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India, and other developing nations. At the summit this week, those five members decided to grow the bloc.
“We have made the decision to extend complete invitations to Argentina, Arab Republic of Egypt, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Iran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. “The membership will begin on January 1st, 2024,” Ramaphosa said at the meeting.
BRICS has chosen to grow for the second time. Brazil, Russia, India, and China came together to join the alliance in 2009. In 2010, South Africa was added. The BRICS region accounts for more than a quarter of global GDP and almost 40% of the world’s population.
Three of the group’s other leaders are attending the summit and were present alongside Ramaphosa for the announcement, including Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to the summit after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March. He participated in the summit virtually, while Russia was represented at the announcement in Johannesburg by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The BRICS summit’s three-day agenda was dominated by calls for membership expansion, which revealed disagreements within the group on the timing and requirements for accepting new members.
However, Ramaphosa noted that the committee, which decides by agreement, has reached an understanding on “the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process”.
Almost two dozen nations had submitted formal applications to join the group.
There are perhaps 50 additional leaders of state and government present at the Johannesburg conference, which ends on Thursday.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
