Diplomatic Correspondent/

Actually, Bangladesh did nothing except application. However, Bangladeshi policy makers were particularly enthusiastic about the new BRICS membership. It was believed that BRICS membership would have added a new dimension to Bangladesh in a different geopolitical situation ahead of the upcoming national elections.

However, six countries have been invited to become members of BRICS at the 15th BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa today.

The six invited countries are Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Membership of the six countries in BRICS will take effect on January 1, 2024.

After South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Geneva last June, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen informed reporters about Bangladesh’s accession to BRICS. After that meeting, i.e. after June 14, Bangladesh officially applied for BRICS membership. The two top leaders met on the sidelines of attending an International Labor Organization (ILO) meeting.

However, diplomatic sources said, usually the hope of getting membership is nothing but exaggeration if one simply applies to join such a forum or alliance. Because, to join an alliance, the member countries have to reach a consensus on the inclusion of a new country. As a result, besides sending letters from Bangladesh to the heads of state or government of those countries, efforts have to be made to send special envoys to those countries. Bangladesh has done nothing but apply for BRICS membership in June.

Another source claims there is a dichotomy over what the criteria for new BRICS membership will be. After knowing such information, Bangladesh also gave up somewhat in terms of becoming a member of BRICS. With the addition of six new countries to BRICS, it is clear that Bangladesh was not properly informed, nor did it attempt to be, about the new membership criteria of the alliance.

According to a diplomatic source from South Africa, the new membership was supposed to be announced last Wednesday night. But it was not declared as there was no consensus among the five countries. Later on Thursday morning, before the start of the session, the top leaders of the five countries sat in a meeting. As a result, the scheduled session started a little later on Thursday.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters in his office on August 17 that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa invited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit BRICS last June in Geneva. At that time, it was thought that they would make some new countries members of BRICS. However, it depends on the five member countries of BRICS, said the foreign minister. He also said, ‘The debate that is going on there is that three countries want to take new members. Apart from this, India and Brazil say that new rules and regulations must be made before taking them. The president of South Africa then said that they want to take four countries. We asked, which country? Then he said, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

But in the end his statement was not correct.

Initially it was called Brick. That is Brazil, Russia, India and China. The idea was coined by Jim O’Neil, an economist at investment bank The Goldman Sachs. He published a report in November 2001 saying that by 2050 these four countries will dominate the economy. Because the four countries have fast-growing economies, cheap labor, favorable demographics, and abundant natural resources to tap into. South Africa joined BRIC in 2010. Hence its name BRICS.

BRICS was actually the initiative of Russia. In 2006, during the United Nations General Assembly held in New York, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his interest in forming the first alliance. The first ministerial conference was held in Russia in 2008. And the first BRICS summit was officially held on June 16, 2009, in Russia.