Six more countries to become new members of BRICS, Bangladesh not named

Six more nations have been asked to join the BRICS group of countries, which has vowed to support the "Global South".

The main topic of discussion during the three-day meeting in Johannesburg was the expansion of BRICS, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Although all five BRICS nations have officially stated their support for growth, there may be disagreements among the leaders over how quickly and by how much.

Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have all been invited to join the BRICS as part of the organization‍‍`s initial expansion, according to Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa. Beginning on January 1, 2024, the new membership will take effect.

“As a five BRICS countries, we have reached an agreement on the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures on the BRICS expansion process which has been in discussion for quite a while,” Ramaphosa told a joint media briefing.

"The other phases of this expansion process will come after the first phase, on which we have reached agreement," he added.