Islamabad applies to join BRICS in 2024, says Pakistan's envoy to Russia

Pakistan has applied to join the BRICS group of nations in 2024, with the expectation of receiving support from Russia during the membership process, said Muhammad Khalid Jamali, Pakistan’s newly appointed Ambassador to Russia. In an interview with TASS. the diplomat when asked about the status of the membership bid, confirmed that Pakistan has already applied and intends to become a member under Russia’s presidency in 2024. The BRICS economic bloc, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, was established on June 16, 2009, with South Africa becoming its only addition in December 2010. China, expressing its backing, reiterated support on Monday for the inclusion of new countries in the BRICS grouping of developing nations. The push for expansion of the group is notably driven by China and Russia as they aim to counter Western economic dominance. Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to become members of BRICS. Their membership will take effect January 1, 2024. The diplomat for Pakistan has declared that Pakistan has already applied for membership to join BRICS, TASS reported. Jamali confirmed that Pakistan intends to participate within the group under Russian chairmanship, in 2024. “Pakistan would like to be part of this important organization and we are in the process of contacting member countries for extending support to Pakistan’s membership in general and the Russian Federation in particular,” the ambassador added. Russia last chaired the group in 2020, prior to India taking over the role in January 2021 and holding the presidency until December 2021. The theme and approach for India’s BRICS Chairship was ‘BRICS@15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus’. BRICS brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing around 41% of the global population, around 24% of the global GDP and around 16% of global trade. Ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, southwest Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in early October that BRICS plans to agree on a list of candidates for partner-state status. Ryabkov earlier stated that during the Russian chairmanship of the BRICS group, special attention will be paid to expanding the “circle of BRICS friends,” including in Latin America. “We should let more countries join the BRICS family to pool wisdom and efforts to make global governance more just and equitable,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said. With inputs from agencies.