India's foreign ministry says there are criteria for decision on BRICS enlargement

The accession of new countries to BRICS will be based on the decision of this group, taking into account the established criteria. This was stated by Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal while replying to a related question. This is reported by ANI, a partner of TV BRICS.

“We keep saying that BRICS is an important platform for us and we look forward to participating in the meetings to be organised by Russia as the chair of the association this year. As far as membership is concerned, the group decides on the basis of certain criteria that the BRICS member countries have set,” Jaiswal said.

According to the Indian foreign ministry spokesman, if the group decides to expand, considers a particular country, “it will be done”.

Earlier, the Thai government approved a draft letter of intent for the country to become a BRICS member. Plans to join the group were also confirmed by Sri Lanka's foreign minister.

The BRICS group has gone through two waves of expansion since its founding in 2006. In 2011, South Africa joined the original membership, which included Brazil, Russia, India and China. In August 2023, six new members, including Argentina, were invited to join the group at once but declined to join in late December. The five new members – Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt – began full BRICS membership on 1 January 2024.