Kazakhstan stays out of BRICS due to pragmatism, President Tokayev says
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has explained why Kazakhstan hasn’t joined BRICS. In an interview with Al Jazeera, he claimed that he is highly pragmatic and that what he can see is no fixed structures within BRICS, no charter, no secretariat, no programs, and so on.
According to the president, the country has become an observer state in BRICS, and this is quite enough for now.
The Al Jazeera interviewer asked Tokayev whether he is worried that BRICS is not an effective organization, or whether he is worried that Kazakhstan might be seen as too close to some powers like China and Russia. The journalist also asked Kazakhstan’s leader whether he wants to balance its relations with the West as well.
«First of all, it’s about the proposed efficiency or effectiveness of the organization. Yes, there are big powers, there are middle-scale powers, small powers and each international organization,» the president said.
Tokayev suggested seeing whether BRICS is going to be efficient enough as a very well-promoted and proclaimed international organization.
«At least at the first stage, we are going to be an observer in BRICS and then time will tell,» he said.
In October 2024, the president’s adviser Berik Uali said that Kazakhstan had received offers to join BRICS, noting that Kazakhstan would refrain from doing so. The country has been a BRICS partner since Jan. 1, 2025.
BRICS was established in 2006 during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia. In early 2024, after new countries joined the organization, the association became known as BRICS+.
Currently, the organization comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Indonesia. The primary objective of the alliance is to unite rapidly growing economies, thereby strengthening their role on the global stage, aligning their policies, and establishing alternative mechanisms of global governance.
