"On the eve of the summit in Kazan, we received 35 applications to join BRICS in one condition or another," Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said.
What Is the BRICS Group and Why Is It Expanding? (source)
Established in 2009, BRICS was founded on the premise that international institutions were overly dominated by Western powers and had ceased to serve developing countries. The acronym BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
The primary objectives of the BRICS bloc include:
Economic Coordination: Aligning the economic and diplomatic policies of its member countries.
New Financial Institutions: Establishing new financial institutions to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar and Western-dominated financial systems.
Alternative Perspectives: Creating an alternative to the dominance of Western viewpoints in major multilateral groupings, such as the World Bank, the Group of Seven (G7), and the UN Security Council.
Growing membership brings new challenges, however, including increasing pushback from Western counties and divisions within the bloc.
