Indonesia wants to join BRICS, ministry says

Indonesia has expressed its desire to join the BRICS group of major emerging economies, which accounts for 35% of global economic output, as a means to strengthen emerging countries, its foreign ministry said in a statement, reports reuters.

As BRICS world leaders convened in Kazan for a summit this week, Indonesia's foreign ministry said late on Thursday that the process of joining the group has begun.

"Indonesia joining BRICS is a manifestation of its independent-active foreign policy," said Sugiono, the newly appointed foreign minister, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. "That does not mean we join a certain bloc, but we actively participate in every forum."

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, holds a non-aligned foreign policy.

President Prabowo Subianto, who took office on Sunday, has stressed repeatedly that he will befriend all countries, be they China or the United States, and that Indonesia will not be joining any military bloc.

Sugiono added BRICS suits Prabowo's main government programmes "especially with regards to food and energy security, poverty eradication, and the advancement of human resources," adding that Indonesia sees the group as a "vehicle" to further the interests of the global south.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said more than 30 countries had expressed a desire to join the BRICS, though there was little immediate clarity on how the expansion would work.

Current members include Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

Yohanes Sulaiman, an international relations professor at Jenderal Achmad Yani University, questioned the benefits of Indonesia joining BRICS as they can be gleaned from bilateral relations, but it shows Indonesia does not want to miss out._Agencies.