BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa: 6 more members. New members include Argentina, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Egypt.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a speech on August 24, announcing the summit’s achievements and announcing the names of new members.
Official sources told Reuters earlier that the developing country BRICS group was looking to expand invitations to potential new members.
The move has the potential to pave the way for many interested nations to join a coalition dedicated to defending the interests of the “global South.”
President Ramaphosa spoke about Chandrayaan-3 while inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give a speech. In his speech, Modi backed expansion while advocating a “multipolar” world order, and also detailed India’s achievements in space research.
Pakistan will not join BRICS
China’s efforts to incorporate Pakistan into the BRICS alliance have previously raised diplomatic challenges and added further complications to the ongoing process. China’s rationale behind this initiative stems from its belief that the BRICS alliance should accommodate an expansion of its membership and thereby more developing countries.
India’s stance on expansion
Nevertheless, the proposal faced major obstacles in the form of: Indian opposition. Earlier, India firmly opposed any effort to expand its membership of the BRICS, fearing that such expansion would undermine the basic objectives of the alliance and weaken the consensus established among the current members. expressed. New Delhi also opposed an earlier proposal by Belarus to join the BRICS.
However, on August 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi insisted on expanding the five-nation coalition. He emphasized that during his G20 Presidency, India has made significant contributions to the countries of the Global South.