Alarm signal for the West: 16 countries want to join the BRICS group

By Thomas Roper

The BRICS, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is de facto a competitor to Western formats such as the G7, which is receiving less and less international attention. The BRICS represents far more people and is also catching up economically. In 2021, their share of the global economy in terms of gross domestic product adjusted for purchasing power was already over 30 percent.

In addition, with the New Development Bank, the BRICS countries have established competition with the US-dominated institutions World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It is precisely this bank, which does not tie its loans to political approval or other political conditions, as do the organizations dominated by the USA, and which promotes development projects and the expansion of infrastructure, that arouses great international interest.

In recent months, more and more states have expressed interest in joining the BRICS, which has alarm bells ringing in the West, whose media mostly ignore the BRICS. A growing BRICS group would reverse Western global influence and offer many countries a long-sought alternative to US-dominated institutions.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov has now announced that the number of states interested in joining the BRICS is constantly growing and that the BRICS states are currently considering how the organization could be expanded. This was reported by the Russian news agency TASS. Below is the translation:

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister explained: The time is approaching when the BRICS will be represented on all continents

16 countries want to join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and the number of those wanting to do so is increasing literally every month. This was reported by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Tuesday on the television station Perwy Canal (First channel).

When asked how many states are now on the list of those looking to join the BRICS, he said “the numbers vary literally every month.” “The number is growing, I would say 16 is a more realistic number,” said the deputy minister.

“I don’t want to make any predictions about the timing of the admission of this or that member, that’s another question, which today by and large remains at the level of discussions among heads of state and government,” added the deputy minister, expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping paid “due attention” to this issue during their talks during the Chinese leader’s visit to Russia.

At the same time, the diplomat noted that there was no basis for speculation as to whether permanent or semi-permanent membership was possible. Ryabkov explained:

“If we’re using terminology more characteristic of the United Nations in the context of discussions on UN Security Council reform, I think we should be talking about partnership formats, BRICS+ and full membership formats. Those are clearer, more direct ways to create a to ensure practical cooperation before full membership.”

He added: “And of course, to the extent that countries join the association, there are no limitations in terms of location, format, quality and the extent to which they engage in this collaboration, I can imagine that just don’t imagine.”

The possibilities for the further expansion of the BRICS

According to Ryabkov, the time is not far off when the organization will have a stronger presence on different continents. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister stressed:

“I think that the time is approaching when we will have a BRICS, which will be even more present in one form or another on the different continents.”

“I don’t want to hide it, we simply had no experience with so many applications. When the first and only expansion of the BRICS took place to include the Republic of South Africa, everyone simply assumed that this step was a matter of course,” Ryabkov continued. “Now the list is quite long, plus there are states that have shown particular interest in joining the BRICS New Development Bank and so on. There is a variety of formats here and different geometries are acceptable.”

Regional Security

“We will examine how we can expand the issue of regional security in the BRICS format,” said the Deputy Foreign Minister.

“Indeed, the recent agreements reached with the important role of the People’s Republic of China and with our very significant contribution between Saudi Arabia and Iran have created a new context for the regional work.”

Ryabkov added that this is “an asset that will be valued in the BRICS community. And I hope that this will be reinforced as the political dialogue develops.”

Translated by Thomas Röper. First published on the Anti-Spiegel media portal on March 22, 2023.

more on the subject – BRICS as a new global power center? – Part 1 and Part 2