Baku Seeks to Join BRICS

During the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, Azerbaijan and China today signed a joint declaration to establish strategic cooperation between the two countries. The Azerbaijani APA agency reports that the last point of the declaration states that Azerbaijan expresses its desire to join BRICS, and the Chinese side welcomes this decision from official Baku.

"The Chinese side welcomes Azerbaijan's aspiration to strengthen cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and supports the elevation of Azerbaijan's legal status in the SCO. The Azerbaijani side expresses a desire to join BRICS, and the Chinese side welcomes Azerbaijan's participation in BRICS cooperation," states point 4.5 of the joint declaration published by the APA agency.

BRICS is an intergovernmental union established by Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2009. A year later, South Africa also joined the organization. The name of the union is derived from the initial letters of these countries' names in English. Since then, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia have also joined the organization.

Initially, it was mentioned that Saudi Arabia and Argentina would also join the organization; however, after the elections in Argentina in November 2023, the newly elected president stated that Argentina would not join the group, and Saudi Arabia is not yet an official member of the organization. Recently, it has also been revealed that Turkey intends to join BRICS.