BRICS Summit: Six new inducted members will strengthen the bloc, says PM Modi
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday welcomed the six new member countries invited to join as full members the five-nation bloc of emerging economies, BRICS—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
The induction of Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will strengthen BRICS, he said at a joint media briefing with other leaders at the end of the three-day Summit.
The BRICS group of nations had a consensus on inviting these countries as full members of the bloc, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, while announcing the decision along with PM Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who represented President Vladimir Putin.
The new members will become part of BRICS with effect from January 1, 2024, the host President said.
PM Modi said that India always fully supported the expansion of BRICS as it believed that the addition of new members would further strengthen the grouping.
“We have taken an important decision to expand BRICS. This will further strengthen the beliefs of many countries in this multipolar world. I am happy that our teams have agreed on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures for the expansion of BRICS,” he said.
“I am confident that we would be able to give a new dynamism to BRICS by working with the new member countries of the grouping. India has had very deep and historic relations with all these countries,” PM Modi said.
The debate over expanding the BRICS bloc, comprising the five founder members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), topped the agenda at the three-day Summit in Johannesburg, ending on Thursday.
“We value the interests of other countries in building partnership with BRICS and have tasked our foreign ministers to further develop the bloc’s partnership model and list of prospective countries (which want to join the grouping),” he added.
