NEW DELHI, June 10. /TASS/. The BRICS foreign ministers have committed themselves to expand cooperation with developing countries, according to the joint statement they passed during their conference in Nizhny Novgorod.

"The Ministers committed to enhancing engagement with the developing countries. They welcomed their participation in the special session to be held on 11 June 2024 within the framework of the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting as a good opportunity for exchange of views on current global and regional developments," the document reads.

"The Ministers noted the considerable interest of emerging markets and developing countries in joining BRICS. They discussed the Partner Country Model in line with the paragraph 92 of the Johannesburg II Declaration. They reviewed the progress on the relevant preparations to be reported to the BRICS Leaders by the XVI Summit in Kazan," it says.

"Welcoming the active participation of the new members of BRICS, the Ministers assured continued support to their seamless and full integration into BRICS cooperation mechanisms," the statement emphasizes.

This is the first ministerial meeting following BRICS expansion in 2023 when Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE joined Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as full-fledged BRICS members. About 30 more countries are interested in cooperating with the association in this or that format.

Representatives from Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Venezuela, and Vietnam are expected to attend events on Tuesday, June 11.

Russia took over the BRICS’ year-long presidency on January 1, 2024. Russia’s presidency features more than 250 various events, with a BRICS summit in Kazan in October 2024 being the central one.