China hosted the 14th BRICS Summit 2022 in virtual mode. It was held on June 23-24 and was chaired by President Xi Jinping from Beijing. Leaders of Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa along with representatives of other countries attended the summit. The summit took place in the backdrop of evolving global alignments as Russia-Ukraine conflict surges.
In his opening address, President Xi Jinping stressed that the five BRICS countries need to cooperate for global tranquillity, stability, development and should support one another on issues of core interests rejecting hegemony and divide.[1] The BRICS members and other leaders emphasised their commitment to territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries.[2]
On the eve of the summit, Iran and Argentina applied for membership to join BRICS. Iran confirmed it a few days after the summit. While Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez stated at a meeting afterwards that his state wishes to have a full-membership of the association. [3] Apart from these, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt also showed interest in joining the BRICS group.[4] Admittance of more countries through ‘BRICS Plus’ (an expansion process) will definitely add more value to the grouping and help BRICS nations to establish closer ties in Asia, Middle East and South America.
