BRICS reached consensus on expansion process; may include Saudi Arabia, Argentina: China

China on Friday, May 27, said that the Foreign Ministers of Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) have “reached consensus on its expansion process” and have agreed to include the new developing countries. Beijing is holding a rotating Presidency of the BRICS bloc this year, and its foreign ministry said Friday that it actively supports the expansion of the five-member group. The remark comes just a day after Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Saudi Arabia and Argentina have expressed a desire to join the group. 

The BRICS May 19 Foreign Ministers’ virtual meeting included Foreign Ministers of Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Nigeria, Senegal and Thailand who were also given a formal invitation. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also took part in the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting convened by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. BRICS' New Development Bank (NDB) has already enrolled Bangladesh, the UAE, Egypt and Uruguay as its official members.

Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told state-affiliated TASS that the oil-rich Arab world countries have shown interest to join BRICS and establishing partner relations with the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which includes India, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

“China will work on BRICS-related parties to continue to have in-depth discussions on BRICS expansion and determine the standards and procedures for that on the basis of consensus,” Beijing’s  Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at the conference.

“We look forward to more like-minded partners joining the big family of BRICS,” he added. 

Interest in BRICS shown by 'our Saudi friends and Argentina': Russia's FM

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, was quoted as saying by state-affiliated TASS that the interest in BRICS was shown by “our Saudi friends and Argentina, which stated the desire to become a full-fledged BRICS member, coming from the mouth of its (Argentina) Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero.” Lavrov stated that the preparations are being made to organise the next summit and that the outreach format will be established within its framework. More than a dozen developing economies will participate, said Russia’s foreign minister. 

Affirming Lavrov’s comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs, that includes India, have reached a consensus on the BRICS expansion process.

“As the BRICS Chair this year, China actively supports the start of the BRICS expansion process and broadens 'BRICS Plus' cooperation,” Wenbin told a media briefing. He iterated that BRICS cooperation is “open and inclusive”.