ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Saudi Arabia is reported to have officially joined the BRICS bloc countries on Tuesday, January 2 2024). This was reported by Saudi Arabian state TV.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said in August 2023 that Saudi Arabia would study the details before the proposal to join on January 1 2023 and make the right decision. Not only that, Prince Faisal bin Farhan also said that BRICS could be a crucial way to strengthen cooperation.
“The BRICS group is a useful and important channel for strengthening economic cooperation,” he explained.
The previous BRICS members were Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Now the number of members will double with Saudi Arabia joining the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran and Ethiopia as new members.
Saudi Arabia’s joining comes amid geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, as well as the expansion of China’s influence in the kingdom.
Although Saudi Arabia’s ties with the US continue to be strong, the kingdom is increasingly going its own way as it fears there is less commitment from the US to Gulf security than in the past.
Meanwhile, China, Saudi Arabia’s largest oil customer, has also led calls for the expansion of the BRICs to act as a balance against Western countries. This expansion could strengthen the group of countries to become leaders in the South, although Argentina signaled in November last year that it was rejecting the invitation to join. (AT Network)
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