Reuters. Brazil has resisted gathering momentum in the BRICS group of major emerging economies to add more member countries, but debate over admission criteria seems inevitable at this month's summit, three Brazilian government officials told Reuters. Brasilia is concerned the group will lose stature if other nations are let in. Some 30 countries have said they are interested and 22 of them have formally applied, as Algeria did last month.
"An expansion could transform the bloc into something else," said a Brazilian official, who asked not to be named.
The group including Russia, India, China and South Africa, has been hailed by some as a counterweight to traditional diplomatic forums like the G7. BRICS makes decisions by consensus, so Brazil's assent will be key to any expansion.
China, looking to increase its political clout at a time of trade tensions with the United States, has long pushed to expand BRICS membership. Russia, isolated diplomatically over its war in Ukraine, is also embracing the chance to court allies.
South Africa, which chairs the group this year, held a "Friends of BRICS" meeting in June with several countries eager to join. Even India, long wary of rapid expansion, may have come around to the idea in principle, sources said.
