Russian Foreign Minister on Potential BRICS Expansion

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented Tuesday during a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on the high demand for BRICS membership.

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According to the Russian diplomat, over a dozen states have expressed interest in joining the group of emerging economies, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. 

Lavrov said, "interest in this global partnership is quite high and continues to grow." Since "applications have already been officially submitted," the bloc's member states "have agreed to negotiate the criteria and principles of reviewing these applications," the Foreign Minister said.

"We expect, of course, that the negotiations on criteria and principles will not take too long. We must first understand how this association will develop in its potential expanded membership."

Iran, Argentina and Algeria have submitted applications to become members of the group, which accounts for more than 40 percent of the world's population and nearly a quarter of global GDP.

Interest has come from "countries representing all developing regions of the world without exception: Asia, Africa, Latin America," Lavrov said, expressing his appreciation.