2023-08-24 10:59:13
The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), meeting at a summit in Johannesburg, will welcome six new member countries, including Iran, from January, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday.
Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also join the group of emerging countries that want to gain influence in the world.
“Membership will take effect from 1is January 2024,” Ramaphosa said at a joint press conference of the leaders of the five nations that currently make up the bloc, welcoming that “the BRICS are starting a new chapter.”
Immediately following the announcement, Tehran praised on X (ex-Twitter) “a historic development and a strategic success for the country’s foreign policy”.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, for his part, hailed “a great moment” for the African nation. “Ethiopia is ready to cooperate with all for an inclusive and prosperous world order,” he said on social media.
The United Arab Emirates also welcomed their integration, President Mohammed bin Zayed claiming to “respect the vision of the BRICS leaders”.
According to Chinese President Xi Jinping, the talks lead to “a historic enlargement”, predicting a “bright future for the BRICS countries”.
The expansion of the group was the priority of this 15e summit which closes in the evening. A heavyweight accounting for around 70% of the group’s GDP, Beijing was clearly in favor of expansion.
Some forty countries had applied for membership or expressed an interest. A sign of the growing influence of emerging countries on the world stage, according to the “club of five”, which produces a quarter of the world’s wealth and brings together 42% of the world’s population.
“New impetus”
But India, another economic engine of the group which is wary of the ambitions of its Chinese regional rival, was on the reserve. And the disparate group of countries with unevenly growing economies had to agree on the strategic choice of new entrants.
The negotiations took place during a plenary session behind closed doors on Wednesday and bilateral meetings have multiplied since the opening of the summit on Tuesday.
Delhi eventually lent its support to the opening. Its Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the expansion will “give new impetus to our joint efforts” and “strengthen the belief of many countries in a multipolar world order”.
The BRICS are calling for a more inclusive global balance, especially with regard to the influence of the United States and the European Union.
“The role and importance of the BRICS in the world continue to grow,” said Vladimir Putin, under an international arrest warrant for war crimes in Ukraine and who spoke at the summit by videoconference.
The bloc’s leaders reaffirmed their “non-aligned” position in Johannesburg at a time when divisions have been accentuated by the Ukrainian conflict. Observers say member countries must balance their proximity to China and Russia with the risk of drifting away from a major trading partner like the United States.
Washington said this week that it does not see the BRICS as future “geopolitical rivals”, claiming to want to maintain “solid relations” with Brazil, India and South Africa.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has already asserted that the bloc will continue to gain ground.
“The BRICS will continue to open up to new members,” he said, and “to be the driving force of a new international order.”
To see in video
1692876292
#BRICS #accepts #members #bloc #emerging #countries
