Sharjah 24 – AFP: BRICS leaders have agreed to expand the club of major emerging economies and adopted conditions for entry, South Africa said Wednesday, as the bloc pursues greater clout to shape the world order.
Calls to enlarge the BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- has dominated the agenda at its three-day summit in Johannesburg and exposed rifts between members.
China is seeking to rapidly grow the BRICS amid rising competition with the United States but the group's other major power, India, is wary of the intentions of its geopolitical rival.
South African officials say nearly two dozen countries have formally applied to join the BRICS, which accounts for 40 percent of the world's population and a quarter of the global economy.
On Wednesday, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said BRICS leaders had "agreed on the matter of expansion" and a detailed announcement would be made before the summit's close on Thursday.
"We have a document that we have adopted that sets out guidelines and principles, processes, for considering countries that wish to become members of BRICS," Pandor told state-run Ubuntu Radio.
"That's very positive."
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told the summit he supported opening the door to new members and "welcomes moving forward with consensus".
"We stand at the cusp of expanding the BRICS family," said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The bloc makes decisions by consensus and no new members have been admitted since South Africa in 2010.
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