BRICS Draws Membership Requests From 19 Nations Before The Summit  

• The emerging-markets bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet in Cape Town on June 2-3 to discuss its enlargement, Anil Sooklal, South Africa's ambassador to the group, said in an interview in the city on Monday.
• "What will be discussed is the expansion of BRICS and the modalities of how this will happen," he said. "Thirteen countries have formally asked to join, and another six have asked informally. We are getting applications to join every day."
• China initiated the conversation about expansion when it was BRICS chair last year, as the world's second-biggest economy tries to build diplomatic clout to counter the dominance of developed countries in the United Nations. The proposed enlargement triggered concern among other members that their influence will be diluted, especially if Beijing's close allies are admitted. China's gross domestic product is more than twice the size of all four other Brics members combined.
• The foreign ministers from the five member states have all confirmed they'll attend the discussions in June, Sooklal said. In addition to its membership, they will also discuss "hot spots" including Sudan, where a conflict between the army and a paramilitary force continued for a 10th day on Monday.
• One of the most significant objectives the BRICS nations appear to be working to achieve is a shift away from reliance on the US dollar. Even before the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Russia and China had embarked on clear policies of local-currency promotion, invariably at the dollar’s expense. With more countries anticipated to join the alliance, this could destabilize the dollar as the currency of choice, especially in international trade negotiations.

(Source: The Business Standard)