India is likely to support Pakistan’s bid to join the BRICS bloc, an alliance that challenges the economic monopoly of the West, Indian media has reported.

Indian media has speculated that following Russia’s influence on India, News Delhi may vote in favour of Pakistan joining the BRICS.

“One of the key takeaways of the summit is likely to be India’s green signal to Pakistan’s long-pending bid for membership in the bloc,” ABP Live reported.

Pakistan applied for membership in BRICS in August 2023; following this, other countries, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and Malaysia, also formally applied to become members of the bloc.

It should be mentioned here that a new member of BRICS was added only after the consensus of the bloc members, and India has remained defiant in giving assent to Pakistan joining the BRICS bloc over the past years.

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

What is BRICS?

BRICS stands for countries’ names: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

The group started in 2006, and Brazil, Russia, India and China convened for the first BRIC summit in 2009. However, South Africa joined on 24 December 2010.

BRICS in 2023 extended the invitation to Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after these countries applied for membership.

Two dozen world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, attended the opening of the BRICS summit on Tuesday.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted the BRICS summit, which is in progress in Russia’s third largest city, the southwestern city of Kazan and will end on October 24.