As the BRICS group of nations prepares to conduct its annual summit in South Africa, there has been interest expressed by nineteen different countries in joining the group.
Anil Sooklal, South Africa's ambassador to the group, stated during an interview held in the city on Monday that the emerging-market bloc will meet in Cape Town on June 2-3 to consider its enlargement. The bloc now consists of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, in addition to South Africa.
“What will be discussed is the expansion of BRICS and the modalities of how this will happen,” he said. “What will be discussed are the modalities of how this will happen.”
Thirteen countries have made an official request to join, while another six have made an informal request. Every day, we receive applications from those who are interested in joining.
China, the world's second-largest economy, is attempting to create diplomatic power to fight the dominance of wealthy countries in the United Nations.
During the past year, China served as the chair of the BRICS, and during that time, it was the country that launched the talk about expansion.
Other members' concerns that their influence would be diminished as a result of the proposed expansion were sparked by the fact that Beijing's close friends may be included in the new membership. The aggregate gross domestic product of the other four members of the BRICS group is less than half the size of China's economy.
According to Sooklal, the foreign ministers of the five member states have all indicated that they will participate in the negotiations scheduled for June.
In addition to its membership, they will talk about “hot spots,” such as the fighting in Sudan, which has been going on for ten days even though a cease-fire appeared to take effect on Tuesday.
Since its inception as the BRIC in 2006, the organization has only welcomed a single new member, South Africa, in 2010.
According to what Sooklal indicated in February, several countries, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, have formally requested to become members.
Other nations, such as Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain, and Indonesia, as well as two nations from East Africa and one nation from West Africa, neither of which he named, have also shown an interest in joining.
