Iran, Argentina apply to join BRICS; more show interest
Membership ‘ decided by founding nations’
Iran’s application to the BRICS mechanism, following a similar move by Argentina, is a move that Chinese analysts believe underscores the pursuit by developing and emerging countries of development not disturbance, of true multilateralism not ideological confrontations, and of solidarity not division.
The expansion of the BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will also help amplify peaceful power to stabilize the international order at a time when small cliques and unilateral sanctions have been weaponized based on geopolitical considerations, analysts pointed out.
Iran has formally submitted its application to become a member of the BRICS family. “BRICS countries have played a vital role in practicing true multilateralism and promoting unity and strength among developing countries. Iran stands ready to offer all its resources and advantages, including energy reserves, human resources and scientific achievements, to help the BRICS countries achieve their goals,” read a statement that the Iranian Embassy sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.
“Iran is a sustainable and trustworthy partner of BRICS countries,” it said.
While attending a series of meetings during last week’s
BRICS summit, the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed the country’s readiness to share its vast capabilities to help BRICS attain its goals. Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez also said that his country is ready to become a full member of BRICS.
In responding to Iran and Argentina’s applications to BRICS, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press conference on Tuesday that since its establishment, the destiny of BRICS and new emerging and developing countries have been closely interwoven. China, with this year’s BRICS’ chairmanship, actively supports the mechanism’s expansion. At the BRICS summit on June 23, leaders of the BRICS countries agreed to discuss the standards and procedures to expand the family.
Feng Xingke, secretary general of the World Financial Forum and director of the Center for BRICS and Global Governance, told the Global Times that apart from Iran and Argentina which had previously expressed willingness to join BRICS, more and more countries have also shown interest in joining the mechanism, which demonstrates the allure BRICS has for new emerging countries as a system to seek common ground for development.
Feng noted that including
Iran in BRICS will mean closer and more effective channels between resources and markets, which will benefit all members. Argentina, as a representative of new emerging economies, will also help promote cooperation between BRICS and other regional countries in Latin America.
Whether the applicants will be firstly listed as observers or will have to undergo other protocols to obtain membership status will be decided by the members, Feng explained.
As BRICS is not a treaty, any application to join in needs to be discussed among the five founding members. Whether the applicants will be firstly listed as observers or will have to undergo other protocols to obtain membership status will be decided by the members, Feng explained.
The expansion of BRICS was a heated topic during the just- concluded 14th BRICS Summit last week. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press conference on June 24 that as the BRICS chair country, China actively supports the BRICS in starting the membership expansion process and expanding the BRICS Plus cooperation, additionally China will encourage all BRICS parties to formulate standards and procedures for membership expansion based on consensus.