Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov claims that about 20 countries are seeking to get BRICS membership.

Speaking to Russian news agency TASS on Thursday, the top diplomat said, “The list of candidates for joining the association continues to increase. The number of states seeking to join this association is nearing twenty.

“It reflects BRICS’ growing and already considerable role in the international arena as an association of countries with similar positions. I would like to stress it,” Mr Ryabkov said. 

The Russian diplomat explained that BRICS is a grouping of countries that do not follow the leader-follower principle but rather the partners set a constructive agenda based on consensus. 

He stated that there are growing discussions on the criteria for joining BRICS, and South Africa has intensified these discussions. 

He also pointed out that there is growing interest to join BRICS in the Arab world and the Asia-Pacific region. 

“I can say that, in our view, the Arab world and the Asia-Pacific region have been clearly ‘begging’ to join BRICS, as they have no representation there today. But we will see exactly what we can offer to the leaders regarding this, and leave this to the leaders to decide at the summit in Johannesburg,” he said. 

BRICS is an acronym representing five regional economies Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The alliance stands to provide an alternative to the United States-led Western power bloc.