BRICS Summit: Modi and Jinping Shake Hands, 6 New Members to Join Next Year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were seen shaking hands on the last day of the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa. Before the start of the press-conference, the two leaders had a conversation for a few seconds. Earlier in November 2022, PM Modi and Xi Jinping discussed the border dispute at the G-20 summit held in Indonesia, which was informed this year.

On the other hand, 6 new countries have been invited to join the BRICS organization, including Argentina, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran. They will become permanent members of BRICS from 1 January 2024. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that these countries have been invited to become members of the organization in the first phase of the meeting.

Also, the BRICS Declaration, signed in South Africa, demanded permanent membership of Brazil, India and South Africa in the UNSC. Apart from this, Modi also held a bilateral meeting with Ethiopia after the press conference.

PM Modi Welcomes New Members of BRICS

PM Modi congratulated the countries invited for BRICS. He said- India has always supported expansion in BRICS. We have close and historic ties with all these countries. I am happy that the 3-day meeting has yielded many positive results.

Without naming the organizations dominated by the western countries, PM Modi said – the expansion of BRICS shows that the major organizations of the world should change with time. At the same time, India will contribute to those countries which could not join this organization in the first phase to get membership of this organization.

Speaking to Reuters, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said the BRICS member states had agreed to expand the organization before detailed discussions were held to invite new members. We have all reached an agreement for other countries to join the organization, including Brazil, China, India and Russia. After this, there will be a final discussion on the names of the new members on Thursday.

Congratulations to Pm Modi at BRICS on Chandrayaan-3

Earlier, there was a rush of leaders congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the BRICS dinner after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warmly greeted Modi.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saeed, who is at the forefront of the race to become a new member of BRICS, also expressed happiness after meeting PM Modi.

Document Ready to Add New Members

South Africa said a document has been prepared for new countries to join the organisation, explaining all terms, conditions and procedures. It will begin with an address by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. After this, the statements of the remaining BRICS members will also be released. The final BRICS event will be a press-conference, where Ramaphosa will make closing statements and remarks.

Pm Modi Said – India’s Support for Expansion

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said at the summit that India fully supports the expansion of BRICS membership and welcomes it to proceed with consensus.

Further clarifying India’s stand on BRICS expansion, PM Modi reminded the remaining members that during India’s chairmanship in 2016, BRICS was defined by building responsive, inclusive and collective solutions. PM Modi said- BRICS will break barriers, give new dimension to economy, inspire innovation, create new opportunities and through all this will reshape the future.

Modi Said- African Union Should Also Be Included in G-20

BRICS countries should try together to include African Union in G-20. We want BRICS to expand. More countries should be included in this. (There was prolonged applause at this).

40 Countries in the Race to Become Members of BRICS,

the meeting of the BRICS group held in 2009 14 years ago is being considered very important this time. The only reason for this is the competition to become a member of this organization. About 40 countries have expressed interest in joining the organization, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Iran. The focal point of this meeting will be group expansion. However, there is no consensus on this issue among its five member countries.