ASIATODAY.ID, PETERSBURG – Members of BRICS are planning to deepen their partnership within the organization, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, adding that 34 nations have expressed readiness to participate in the group in one form or another.
BRICS was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. The group expanded this year when Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates became full members. Russia, which is currently chairing the organization, will host the next BRICS summit in the city of Kazan on October 22-24.
“We could not ignore the growing interest in BRICS on the part of many states. As of today, more than three dozen countries, 34 states to be exact, have declared their desire to join the activities of our group,” Putin said at a meeting of BRICS security representatives in St. Petersburg.
According to the Russian leader, members have agreed to discuss granting partner status to countries willing to participate in the group’s work, and to potentially approve some of the bidders during the upcoming summit in Kazan.
“We are also planning to consider the range of possible candidates for receiving such status,” Putin said.
BRICS countries currently have about 3.6 billion people, or 45% of the world’s population. They account for 28% of the world’s nominal gross domestic product and more than one-third of global GDP in purchasing power parity terms. Together, the ten members account for around 40% of global oil production.
In June, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that BRICS had voted to temporarily suspend new membership applications and focus on integrating the countries that joined in 2024. Lavrov added that a new category of “partner countries” would be created as a “stepping stone” to full membership.
Algeria, Vietnam, Indonesia, Türkiye, Pakistan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Palestine, DR Congo, Gabon, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Kuwait, Senegal, and Bolivia are among the nations keen to join BRICS.
Last week, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said that Türkiye had officially applied to join the group, adding that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had accepted the Kremlin’s invitation to attend the upcoming summit.
Earlier this month, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that his country would be attending the meeting as well, emphasizing that it was eagerly awaiting a decision on its bid.
In August, Azerbaijan said it had officially applied for membership. And earlier this year, the Thai foreign minister said that his nation hopes to join BRICS after submitting a formal request at the group’s ministerial meeting. (RT/AT Network)
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