Kazan/Islamabad: BRICS summit meeting is going on in Kazan, Russia. BRICS is an emerging economic block. Indian PM Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that there are great expectations from BRICS. Apart from this, he said that any decision on the expansion of BRICS should be taken with consensus. In fact, about 30 countries including Pakistan and Türkiye are interested in becoming members of BRICS. Russia and China support Pakistan’s joining BRICS. But India has made it clear that BRICS will expand only with consensus. PM Modi said in the meeting that India is ready to welcome new countries as partner countries in BRICS. He further said, ‘All decisions in this regard should be taken unanimously and the views of the BRICS founding members should be respected.’ Russian President Putin presided over the meeting.
According to Putin, about 30 countries want to join it. Apart from India, Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa are the oldest members. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and United Arab Emirates have joined as new members last year.
Hope for India’s support
According to Pakistan, the biggest obstacle in its way to join BRICS is India. However, Pakistani media says that India, one of the founding members of BRICS, is indicating to soften its opposition. According to Pakistani newspaper Dawn, this is happening due to talks with Russia and decreasing tension between India and China. Pakistan had applied to become a member of BRICS in August 2023. According to the report, initially there was opposition from India. But Russia supported Pakistan.
Pakistan got a shock!
In September 2023, Russian Deputy PM Alexey Overchuk publicly supported Pakistan’s inclusion in BRICS. India’s soft stance is being discussed in the summit to be held in Kazan. The report said that after the meeting between Putin and PM Modi, speculations have intensified that India may soften its opposition, in which Russia will mediate.
However, PM Modi has made it clear in this meeting that the ideas of the founding members should be respected for expansion. This could be a shock for Pakistan.