Leaders of 23 countries officially expressed their desire to join BRICS
Leaders of 23 countries have formally expressed their desire to join BRICS, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said at a press conference.
"We have received formal interest from the leaders of the 23 countries in joining BRICS and even more informal requests for possible BRICS membership," Pandor said in a press conference broadcast on YouTube.
BRICS is a group of major emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Because they felt they were not being properly represented in their new positions in international bodies, they created a new forum to express their interests and plan common activities within the group.
Such high interest confirms BRICS's position as the leading organization protecting the interests of countries in the Global South, Naledi added.
In 2022, BRICS announced that it would expand the number of member states to make the organization more inclusive. The BRICS summit, taking place in Johannesburg on August 22-24, will be attended by the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa, with Russia represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would participate in the summit via videoconference.
Russia has been trying to stop the war in Ukraine since 2014.
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