The BRICS economic bloc announced on Thursday that six countries would join Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa from next year, a move that could draw more scrutiny of Beijing’s political influence on the world stage.
Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will become new members of the BRICS from 2024.
Formed in 2009, the BRICS is a bloc of emerging market economies that has become one of the leading voices calling for greater representation of developing countries and the global South in world affairs.
It currently accounts for about 40 percent of the world’s population and more than a quarter of world GDP, though that number is set to increase with new members including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, three of the world’s largest oil producing countries.
Recently, whether the BRICS countries have turned anti-Western under the influence of China and Russia, amid the deterioration of relations between Beijing and the United States and Russia’s confrontation with the West over the Ukraine war.
Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi’s political deputy, Mohammad Jamshidi, called Iran’s decision to join “a historic step”.
“Strategic victory for Iranian foreign policy,” Jamshidi wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “Hail to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the great Iranian nation.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who currently holds the BRICS presidency, announced the appointment of the six new members on the final day of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg’s Sandton financial district.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the summit and joined Ramaphosa in the announcement.
“This membership expansion is historic,” Xi said. “It reflects the determination of the BRICS countries to develop in unity.”
“Over the years, China has always been in the same boat as developing countries.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not attend the summit after the International Criminal Court issued him with an arrest warrant in March for the abduction of Ukrainian children. He actually attended the summit, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov represented Russia at the announcement ceremony in Johannesburg.
While Saudi Arabia is considered a possible new member if existing BRICS members agree on expansion, Iran’s entry is seen as potentially politically problematic. China and Russia have been pushing for expansion, but Brazil, India and South Africa, with which the US has close bilateral ties, have only recently expressed support.
Current members agreed on the final details of the expansion after two days of talks in Johannesburg, although Ramaphosa said the idea had been worked on for more than a year.
The BRICS leaders began talks in Johannesburg on Tuesday night and spent much of Wednesday discussing final details. The BRICS is a consensus-based organization, and all members must agree on policies.
This is the second time the BRICS countries have decided to scale up. The bloc, then known as the BRICs, was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined in 2010.
United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the BRICS announcement in a message posted online, saying the UAE would join an “important group”.
“We look forward to continuing our commitment to work together to advance the prosperity, dignity and interests of the nations and peoples of the world,” Sheikh Mohammed said on X-Day.
Bringing Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates into the same economic or political bloc was unthinkable until recently, as tensions escalated over the collapse of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal and a series of attacks on Iran since 2015. .
But as the coronavirus pandemic receded, the UAE became the first country to re-engage diplomatically with Iran after Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed a missile attack on Abu Dhabi.
In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced a separate detente mediated by China. China has sought closer ties with all three countries, especially Iran, from which it has imported oil since the nuclear deal collapsed.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also maintained ties with Russia amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine, much to the chagrin of Washington, which has long provided the major oil producer with a security guarantee.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said in a statement that Egypt will cooperate and coordinate with other member states to achieve the goals of EU economic cooperation and “raise the voice of the global south”.
The news is also a major boost for Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country and one of the continent’s fastest-growing economies, as the government grapples with many Global partners and financial institutions re-engaged. Tigray region ended last year.
The war has cost billions of dollars, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, under pressure from the United States and the European Union, has turned to other partners, including China, Russia and the Gulf states, for support.
