China’s Xi Calls For Accelerating BRICS Expansion

China’s President Xi Jinping has called for the acceleration of the expansion of the BRICS group at the ongoing summit in  Johannesburg, South Africa.

“We should let more countries join the BRICS family and pool wisdom to make global governance more fair and reasonable,” Xi said on the second day of a BRICS leaders summit.

Leaders from the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa attended the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

“India fully supports the expansion of BRICS membership and we welcome moving forward on this based on consensus,” Indian President Modi told a summit of leaders of the bloc, which also includes Brazil, Russia, and South Africa, on Wednesday.

The current BRICS summit is being presided over by South Africa, with the theme for this year’s summit being: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to address the meeting virtually rather than attend in person, while Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov represented the country at the event.

An expansion of the group of emerging market powers could help boost its global heft and counter the dominance of the Group of Seven. Dozens of nations have expressed interest in joining. China has been the main driver behind the addition of more members, but India, which is concerned that the bloc could become a mouthpiece for its neighbor, has advocated a cautious approach.

HINDUSTAN TIMES