Over 40 countries show interest in joining BRICS

Sooklal described BRICS as an “inclusive” organisation that has always been open to dialogue with the larger global community…reports Asian Lite News

More than 40 countries have shown an interest in joining BRICS, Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador-at-large responsible for ties with the economic alliance and Asian countries, has said.

The diplomat said in Johannesburg that 22 countries have formally applied to join the group, while “an equal number” of states “have been informally asking about becoming BRICS members”, RT reported. 

Sooklal described BRICS as an “inclusive” organisation that has always been open to dialogue with the larger global community. 

The group currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and accounts for over 40 per cent of the global population and nearly a quarter of the world’s GDP, RT reported.

Sooklal said that BRICS does not distinguish between the Global North and Global South and is ready to talk to any country that “has the same vision for a more inclusive and equitable global order where we do not marginalise large parts of the world”, including many developing nations.

The diplomat went on to point out that while the UN has yet to embark on comprehensive reforms that would give emerging countries a greater voice, BRICS has charted its own path to remedy the situation, RT reported.

However, he stressed that the bloc “does not seek to become a dominant economic force”, but rather wants to have “a major influence in an inclusive manner to work for change”. 

“We don’t want a world where we have one or two global hegemons,” he added, explaining that such a distribution of power sows division in the global community.

Sooklal had earlier said in comments to journalists that Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were among those countries looking to join the bloc, RT reported.

South Africa will host the BRICS annual summit this year, which will take place in Johannesburg from August 22-24, with President Cyril Ramaphosa having sent invitations to nearly 70 global leaders.

Recently, Algeria formally applied to join the BRICS group and submitted a request to become a shareholder member of the BRICS Bank. The Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, revealed this development during his recent visit to China, where he expressed Algeria’s eagerness to open new economic opportunities and strengthen its partnerships with countries like China, Morocco World News reported.

“We officially applied to join the BRICS group, we sent a letter asking to be shareholder members in the bank … Algeria’s first contribution in the bank will be USD 1.5 billion,” An-Nahar Al-Jadid quoted Tebboune as saying. An-Nahar Al-Jadid newspaper is an independent Algerian daily newspaper.

ALSO READ-Algeria applies to join BRICS alliance with $1.5bn contribution