Indian PM welcomes Egypt to join BRICS group

CAIRO – 24 August 2023:  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Egypt and five other countries to join the BRICS economic bloc.

“On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of BRICS, we have taken the decision to expand this forum. India has always fully supported this expansion. Such an expansion will make BRICS stronger and more effective,” said Modi on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account, on Thursday.

“In that spirit, India welcomes Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and UAE into the BRICS family,” he added.

His comments were given after the BRICS Summit 2023 that was held in South Africa on Thursday. The Bloc, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will be joined by other six countries.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared an invitation to Egypt, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and UAE to be full members at BRICS as of January 1, 2024. The president also declared the outcome of the 15th BRICS summit.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi appreciated the confidence of BRICS member states after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the BRICS Club of Emerging Nations would welcome six new members, including Egypt, at the start of 2024.

“I value the declaration by the BRICS group to invite Egypt to join its membership as of January 2024. We appreciate the confidence of all BRICS member states with whom we share robust relations,” said President El-Sisi on Thursday.

“We look forward to cooperating and coordinating with them (the member states), and with the other countries invited to join the bloc, to achieve its goals of strengthening economic cooperation among us, and raise the voice of the Global South with regard to the various issues and development challenges we encounter to promote the developing countries’ rights and interests,” the president added.

Russian President Valdimir Putin said during the BRICS summit in South Africa: “We are cooperating with a number of African countries, including Egypt, where the Russian company, Rosatom, is building the Dabaa nuclear power plant,” Youm7 reported.