14.02.2023, Pretoria.
Trustees of the BRICS heads of state began working on the concept of expansion of the organization and the criteria for admission of new members in early February, said Professor Anil Sooklal, Ambassador-at-Large for Asia and BRICS and South Africa’s BRICS Sherpa, said on February 14, TASS informs.
“At a meeting of BRICS sherpas and sous-sherpas in South Africa in early February, we began discussing the expansion of BRICS,” Sooklal said.
He noted that the discussion is part of implementing the June 2022 BRICS summit decision to develop criteria for admission of new countries to the organization. According to him, the participants in the discussion have now agreed to develop and adopt the concept of BRICS expansion.
Sooklal emphasized that in order to agree on common criteria, principles and approaches to BRICS expansion three more meetings are planned. They will be held in the next three months. The work will result in a report, which will be considered by the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries. Their meeting is to be held in June this year.
“Now a huge work has begun on the concept of BRICS expansion and the criteria for accepting new members,” Sooklal said.
Brazil, Russia, India and China created the BRIC group in 2006. In 2011, South Africa joined the group and the organization became known as BRICS. South Africa is chairing the group in 2022.
In January 2022, South African Ambassador to Russia Mzuvukile Jeff Maqetuka said that currently 13 countries want to join BRICS. Six of them have already submitted formal applications. They are Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
