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BRICS Nations Make ‘Steady Progress’ in Defining Enlargement Criteria

© Sputnik / Denis Bolotsky10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa
10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa - Sputnik India, 1920, 18.08.2023
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South Africa has said that 20 countries have formally applied to join the BRICS grouping, while 20 more nations have informally enquired about a prospective membership.
The BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- have made "steady progress" in defining the guiding principles and guiding criteria for expanding the membership base of the grouping, South African Sherpa Ambassador Anil Sooklal has stated.
Sooklal was speaking during the Sherpa and Sous Sherpa meeting, which kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city, on Thursday.
The critical meeting, being held less than a week before the BRICS Summit, is aimed at finalizing the ‘eGoli Declaration’, the final outcome document after the BRICS leaders’ meeting on 22-24 August at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
The South African ambassador remarked that the outcome document must be befitting the BRICS meeting, which is the first in-person gathering of the informal grouping in the post-Covid era.
Sooklal highlighted that the upcoming BRICS Summit had drawn global attention for several reasons, listing the question of expansion of the grouping as the most important issue.
“This summit has also drawn global attention because of the extended meeting we will have with friends of BRICS on 24th August, where President [of South Africa Cyril] Ramaphosa has invited the entire African continent as well as key leading countries of Global South to join BRICS leaders,” he said.
70 leaders from countries in Global South have been invited to this year’s meeting, out of who 50 have confirmed their participation, the South African sherpa added.
He said that this was the largest outreach to the Global South nations.
Sooklal said that the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and New Development Bank (NDB) President Dilma Rousseff, the former Brazilian President, have also confirmed their attendance for the meeting.

BRICS Foreign Ministers to Submit a Report on Expansion at Summit

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has said that the foreign ministers of the BRICS nations will submit a report on the proposed expansion of the grouping at the summit.
She told a media briefing this month that the final decision on including new members rests with the leaders.
Pandor said that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the meeting, while Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the summit virtually.
BRICS - Sputnik India, 1920, 12.08.2023
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