BRICS meet 2023: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the expansion of the BRICS bloc is still a work in progress and members of the five-nation grouping are approaching the idea with a positive intent and an open mind. Notably, BRICS is an informal group of states comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Speaking after a meeting of the foreign ministers of BRICS nations in Cape Town on Thursday evening, Jaishankar said the leaders of the countries had asked them last year to formulate the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures for such admissions.
What Jaishankar said?
“This is still a work in progress. We are approaching this with positive intent with an open mind. There are many aspects to it. One part of it is to consolidate how the existing BRICS members are working with each other. The second part of it is how the BRICS engages non-BRICS countries. And the third part is how we look at possible BRICS expansion - what will be the appropriate format for that is also something we need to work on,” Jaishankar said.
“Bottom line is we are still working on it; the Sherpas (representing the BRICS members) have been tasked with it and we will have to see what they come up with,” he added.
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'BRICS is established feature of the global landscape'
Earlier, addressing the Friends of BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting, Jaishankar said the message of reform that BRICS embodies must permeate the world of multilateralism. "BRICS is no longer an ‘alternative’, it is an established feature of the global landscape," he tweeted.
He said the five-nation grouping comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is not only an expression of multipolarity but of the many and diverse ways of meeting international challenges.
"Its focus is on building a fairer, inclusive and open international architecture with sustainable development at its core. Creating resilient and reliable supply chains is central to ensuring that no one is left behind," he tweeted. Jaishankar said the 'Friends of BRICS' strongly support the reform of the United Nations Security Council.
Which all nations seeking BRICS membership?
Among the countries reportedly seeking membership in the BRICS bloc are Egypt and the Middle Eastern oil-producing nations of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. South American countries seeking its membership include Venezuela and Argentina. The BRICS bloc brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade.
(With PTI inputs)
