Sri Lanka considers BRICS to be an effective partnership to realize aspiration for mutually beneficial cooperation…reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lanka is to place on record its request for membership of BRICS at the outreach BRICS summit to be held in Kazan, Russia, Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath said on Monday.
During an interaction with the Colombo-based diplomatic corps at the foreign affairs ministry, he said he and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will be unable to attend the summit because of the parliamentary election, but the secretary of foreign affairs will represent Sri Lanka and place on record request for membership.
He said he has already addressed letters to his counterparts in the BRICS member states seeking support, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Herath, Sri Lanka considers BRICS to be an effective partnership to realize aspiration for mutually beneficial cooperation, peace and development, through strengthened and inclusive multilateralism within the framework of the United Nations Charter.
Algeria’s BRICS membership
Algeria is a strong contender in the second wave of BRICS expansion, but the process would require the consensus of all member nations, the India said on Wednesday ahead of President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the African nation.
India is also exploring avenues for trade in local currencies, promoting UPI to enhance cooperation with African nations.
“Our effort has always been to bilaterally engage, to get them to do trading and settlements in local currencies. This process is on. It will not happen overnight because there are technical issues, the country’s willingness, and the community’s interest – so it’s a process,” MEA Secretary (ER) Dammu Ravi said in the press briefing today.
Ravi emphasised the successful engagements with some African countries while acknowledging that others are still in the process of adaptation.
“They are keen to look at alternatives and trade settlements in alternative currencies. UPI, for example, will become very attractive for many countries, so it’s a work in progress. We should be able to engage with them more deeply on these concepts, particularly national currency trading and UPI,” he added.
Being asked about whether Algeria, Mauritania, and Malawi have shown interest in joining BRICS grouping, the MEA Secy said that it is a process and all member nations have to agree for it to happen.
“This is a process. The expansion of BRICS is a process, and it started off during the chairship of South Africa last year, and some countries could get in. The process of expansion is based on consensus; all the countries will have to agree,” he explained.
While Algeria was not part of the first wave of expansion, Ravi indicated that it remains a strong candidate for the second wave.
“For some reason or another, Algeria was not part of the first wave of the expansion, but it is very much a candidate in the second wave. So we’ll have to see how it goes. It’s just not India that’s supporting it; all the member countries will have to take a call as to who can come in this expansion of BRICS,” he added.
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