Kazakhstan shies away from joining BRICS
According to Berik Uali, the aide to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan has received invitations to join BRICS on several occasions; however, the country isn’t going to apply for membership anytime soon.
«The president received several letters inviting Kazakhstan to join BRICS, as our country is widely recognized as a responsible and well-respected member of the international community,» Uali told Tengrinews.kz in an interview.
As he noted, Kazakhstan has been observing the evolution of BRICS with great interest and supports the call of the organization’s leaders to «take every necessary measure to build a fair and democratic international order free of the hegemony of any superpower.»
Tokayev’s spokesperson also highlighted that the president is very serious about reviewing invitations to join BRICS, instructing authorized agencies to assess these invitations from Kazakhstan’s national interest perspective.
«That being said, Kazakhstan isn’t going to apply to join BRICS anytime soon. First of all, there is a multistage process for reviewing such an application, and there are many other issues related to the future development of this alliance,» Uali said.
The president’s spokesperson emphasized that Tokayev is convinced that the UN is an organization that has no alternatives and is the best place to discuss all international problems, even though it needs to be reformed.
«The president believes that the UN isn’t free of flaws but it is a unique organization and this is why it needs international support. The president has already expressed his regret about the UN Security Council’s inability to make important and decisive decisions. This is why he believes that the UN Security Council must be reformed based on consultations between UN member states, with the interests of middle powers taken into account,» Uali underlined.
BRICS is set to hold its upcoming summit on Oct. 23 in Kazan, Russia, with Tokayev as one of the speakers. In August 2023, the president stated that Kazakhstan would like to contribute to the development of BRICS as a member state. In turn, China said it would support Kazakhstan’s accession to the organization.
BRICS was established in 2006 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum by the economy ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China. In early 2024, the organization was renamed BRICS+ as several more countries joined it. As of today, there are nine member states in BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, the UAE, Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia.
