Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has stated that unilateralism is on the decline as shown by the enlargement of BRICS with the highly influential economic grouping adding six new entrants to the club.
"BRICS expansion shows that unilateralism is on the decline," Raisi said on the sidelines of his interaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Raisi's remarks came moments after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Iran alongside Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Argentina will become a full-fledged BRICS member from January 1, 2024.
The South African leader noted that the existing five BRICS member states - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, have arrived at a consensus over the induction of new nations into the grouping.
BRICS Shaping New World Order
Earlier, an Indian strategic affairs expert told Sputnik India that the expansion of BRICS was inevitable as the United Nations had become defunct.
"It is something that is happening in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), with the West on the one side and Russia and China on the other. As a result, no worthwhile joint/consensual statement is coming out of the UNSC," Major General (Retd.) Shashi Bhushan Asthana.
On the other hand, another Indian think-tanker added that the expansion of BRICS would lead to a "new world order".
"The BRICS has shown that it is set to play a formidable role in global politics and shaping a new world order. It is basically west versus the rest now," Commodore (retired) Seshadri Vasan, who served in the Indian Navy for over three decades summed up.