The BRICS alliance invited six new countries to join the bloc during last year’s summit in Johannesburg. The 15th summit in 2023 saw BRICS sending invitations for expansion to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Argentina, Egypt, Iran, and Ethiopia. However, only four out of the six invited countries joined BRICS this year in 2024. Argentina rejected the BRICS invitation and Saudi Arabia kept the decision to join the group on hold. Read here to know when Saudi Arabia plans to join BRICS.
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The BRICS expansion is a hot topic as several developing countries want to be a part of the grouping. Many developing nations believe BRICS is the only group that can help their native economies de-dollarize and strengthen their respective local currencies.
BRICS Expansion: India Says 30 Countries Ready To Join
India’s Foreign Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed in a latest interview that BRICS is looking at new expansion in 2024. He explained that nearly 30 countries are ready to join the bloc and add something new to the table. The minister said that the desire of new countries to join BRICS shows the value and usefulness of the bloc.
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“We tested it last year in the market, asking how many want to join BRICS. We got almost 30 countries who were willing to join BRICS. Clearly, 30 countries saw value in it, there must be something good with that,” he said to ANI. Also, read here to know the 30+ countries that want to be a part of the BRICS expansion this year.
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Therefore, reading between the lines, a new round of BRICS expansion could be on the cards this year in 2024. The upcoming 16th BRICS summit will be held in October this year in the Kazan region of Russia. Another new round of expansion could be taken in the next BRICS summit this year.