NEW DELHI: While Pakistan made a formal request to join BRICS last year, India, prodded by Russia, may yield to the move at the group’s summit that kicked off in Russia’s third largest city, Kazan, on Tuesday.

As new members are admitted by consensus, India’s opposition had worried the other founding members of BRICS.

In November 2023, the Foreign Office spokesperson had told a presser that Pakistan sought to join the leading Global South bloc, mentioning that the country had warm ties with “most” BRICS members. Since then, the likelihood of India’s acceptance of Pakistan’s membership has been speculated in the media on both sides of the border.

The chances only brig­h­tened after Russia’s Dep­uty Prime Minister Alexei gave public support to Pakistan’s membership of BRICS during his visit to Islamabad in September.

A report in India’s Tri­bune newspaper on Tues­day gave further credence to the possibility, as India’s Narendra Modi reached Kazan, ahead of the opening of the summit and held bilateral talks with Presi­dent Vladimir Putin.

The alliance that initi­ally included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has expan­ded rapidly to embrace Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

After Pakistan’s application for the membership in August last year, Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have also formally applied to become members, and a few others have expressed interest in joining.

Now significant progress in the latest border talks between India and China may become the sweetener in the bargain, given the special relations Islamabad has with Beijing.

“We believe that by joining BRICS, Pakistan can play an important role in furthering international cooperation and revitalising inclusive multilateralism.

We also hope that BRICS will move forward on Pakistan’s request in line with its commitment to inclusive multilateralism,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the Foreign Office spokesperson in Islamabad, had said.

Last month, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk held formal talks with Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and said Moscow would favour Pakistan’s inclusion in BRICS.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2024