By Samuel Ouma
BRICS leaders on Thursday admitted six countries as new members to the alliance.
The BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, invited Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join them, effective on January 1, 2024.
The announcement was made by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at a joint media briefing along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was presumably missing due to an International Criminal Court warrant, which would theoretically require the host country to arrest him.
President Ramaphosa said the six new members were added following an agreement among the leaders on the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process.
“We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process, and further phases will follow. We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of BRICS,” read the joint statement.
“We value the interest of other countries in building a partnership with BRICS.”
Ramaphosa also announced that they have tasked their Foreign Ministers to further develop the BRICS partner country model and a list of prospective partner countries and submit the report next year.
The BRICS 15th Annually Summit kicked off on August 22-24 in South Africa under the theme BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism’.
During the Summit, the leaders raised concerns about the ongoing conflicts in many parts of the world, calling for peaceful resolution.
They also reaffirmed the alliance's commitment to inclusive multilateralism and safeguarding international law, especially the United Nations Charter's goals and values.
Furthermore, the Summit stated that an imbalanced recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic worsens inequalities worldwide.
The leaders encouraged multilateral financial institutions and international organizations to positively foster global economic policy agreements to combat inequality.
On currency, the Summit charged the BRICS Finance Ministers and/or Central Bank Governors with evaluating local currencies, payment mechanisms, and platforms and reporting back to the BRICS leaders by the next Summit.
The Summit further underlined the significance of BRICS people-to-people encounters in fostering mutual understanding, friendship, and collaboration.
"We adopted the Johannesburg II Declaration, which reflects key BRICS messages on global economic, financial and political
matters. It demonstrates the shared values and common interests that underlie our mutually beneficial cooperation as the five BRICS countries," the statement read further.