By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South Africa’s top diplomat in charge of relations with BRICS, Anil Sooklal on Thursday revealed that over 40 nations have expressed interest to join the membership of the bloc.
At a press conference in Johannesburg, Sooklal and officials from the department of foreign affairs addressed issues bordering on expanding the membership of the bloc.
They addressed journalists a day after South Africa confirmed Russian President, Vladamir Putin would not attend the BRICS summit taking place on August 22-24.
The club comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Top of the agenda at the summit is on means of expanding the membership. Member countries are seeking to offset to the perceived hegenomy of the U.S.-led West in global affairs.
Out of the over 40 countries, 22 have formally asked to join. According to Sooklal, there was “an equal number of countries that have informally expressed interest in becoming BRICS members … (including) all the major global south countries”.
South African officials want BRICS to become a champion of the developing world.
Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Gabon, and Kazakhstan have all expressed interest.
South Africa had faced a dilemma in hosting the summit. As a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued a warrant against Putin in March, it would be obliged to arrest the Russian president if he attended for alleged war crimes by Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, charges Putin denies.
On Wednesday the host confirmed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would be attending in his president’s place.
South Africa has come under fire from Western countries for what they see as an overly friendly stance towards Russia, a longstanding ally of the governing African National Congress (ANC) since it was a liberation movement fighting white minority rule.
South Africa maintains it has a neutral stance on the Ukraine war, which it wants to end through negotiation.
Diplomats addressing the press on Thursday said that position had been vindicated by South Africa’s acceptance by both sides as a mediator in the conflict, in contrast to sabre-rattling by Western powers.
