BRICS set to add six new members from North Africa, Gulf and Latin America
Brics is set to add heft to the grouping of emerging economies as it announced on Thursday the inclusion of six new members, including India's key partners in the Gulf and North Africa, a development that Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a message that «all global institutions need to transform considering the changing times».
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement at a joint press conference of the leaders of the current members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — on the concluding day of the 15th Brics summit in Johannesburg.
«We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of Brics from 1 January 2024,» said the joint declaration issued at the end of the 15th Brics summit.
At the summit, the Brics leaders tasked their finance ministers and central bank governors, as appropriate, to consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms, and report back to leaders by the next summit.
Deep relations
The group also decided to clear the path for further expansion.
«We have also tasked our foreign ministers to further develop the Brics partner country model and a list of prospective partner countries and report by the next summit,» said the joint statement.
Prime Minister Modi said at the joint press conference — in the presence of Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — that the decision to expand the grouping will strengthen the belief of many countries in a multipolar world.
The PM said the inclusion of new members will
