BRICS leaders to consider criteria for admitting new countries to alliance

The leaders of the countries that are members of the BRICS alliance will discuss the criteria for admitting new members during the summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22-24, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said, Report informs.

"The number of countries interested in joining BRICS testifies to its importance on the world stage. Now we need to discuss and agree on the criteria for evaluating these applications, which will be done at the summit," he said.

He noted that Brazil intends to support the application of its own strategic partner - Argentina.

"But first, as I said, we need to develop a roadmap for the future of the group and reach consensus on the criteria, taking into account many requests we receive," the minister added.