BRICS Expansion:
BRICS is a group of 5 countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Together this group contain about 25% of the Global GDP and 40% of the world population which itself shows its importance. In order to rise its importance even further the BRICS leaders have chosen to extend an invitation to six more nations to join their coalition. They will become members on January 1, 2024. According to a report, more than 40 nations, including 22 that had made formal requests to join, were said to be interested in becoming a part of BRICS , only 6 could get the chance to join the it.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Argentina & Ethiopia:
Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Egypt and Argentina have all received the invitations and they are all set to join the BRICS. BRICS has sent invitations to Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Egypt and Argentina, according to South African President Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, who was hosting a three-day meeting of the group in Johannesburg.
BRICS Summit 2023, Hosted by South Africa:
South African President Mr. Ramaphosa stated, “We value the interest of other nations in developing a collaboration with us for BRICS Expansion. Our foreign ministers have been instructed to continue developing the BRICS partner country model and a list of potential partner countries for BRICS Expansion and report back by the following summit.” Vladimir Putin didn’t join the summit physically instead he joined it online by sending a video message because attending the summit physically would have put him at risk of being arrested for war crimes in connection with his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The decision to expand the alliance is a result of the failure to further the current BRICS partnership, which, despite accounting for a third of global GDP, has differing interests. These interests range from China’s ascent to global superpower status to India’s nonalignment to Brazil’s position as a farm exporter. Some of the new members, most notably Saudi Arabia and Iran, have a history of strained ties and provide little hope for cogent action beyond bolstering the Middle East and Africa’s representation in the bloc.
The BRICS group, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, met in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began at their 15th summit in Johannesburg.
During this summit Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi was also present there physically and All the members of BRICS congratulated Indian Prime Minister because of the successful landing of CHANDRAYAAN-3 on the South Pole of Moon.