‘More than 40 countries willing to join BRICS’

Sooklal described BRICS as an "inclusive" organisation that has always been open to dialogue with the larger global community

Johannesburg: More than 40 countries have shown an interest in joining BRICS, Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador-at-large responsible for ties with the economic alliance and Asian countries, has said.

The diplomat said in Johannesburg that 22 countries have formally applied to join the group, while “an equal number” of states “have been informally asking about becoming BRICS members”, RT reported.

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Sooklal described BRICS as an “inclusive” organisation that has always been open to dialogue with the larger global community. The group currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and accounts for over 40 per cent of the global population and nearly a quarter of the world’s GDP, RT reported.

Sooklal said that BRICS does not distinguish between the Global North and Global South and is ready to talk to any country that “has the same vision for a more inclusive and equitable global order where we do not marginalise large parts of the world”, including many developing nations.

The diplomat went on to point out that while the UN has yet to embark on comprehensive reforms that would give emerging countries a greater voice, BRICS has charted its own path to remedy the situation, RT reported.

However, he stressed that the bloc “does not seek to become a dominant economic force”, but rather wants to have “a major influence in an inclusive manner to work for change”.

“We don’t want a world where we have one or two global hegemons,” he added, explaining that such a distribution of power sows division in the global community. Sooklal had earlier said in comments to journalists that Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were among those countries looking to join the bloc, RT reported.

South Africa will host the BRICS annual summit this year, which will take place in Johannesburg from August 22-24, with President Cyril Ramaphosa having sent invitations to nearly 70 global leaders.