MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. Nearly 20 countries are seeking to get BRICS membership and their number continues to grow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS on Thursday.

"The list of candidates for joining the association continues to increase. The number of states seeking to join this association is nearing twenty. It reflects BRICS’ growing and already considerable role in the international arena as an association of countries with similar positions. I would like to stress it," he said.

BRICS is a grouping of countries that do not follow the leader-follower principle, Ryabkov said. Instead, the partners "set a constructive agenda based on consensus," he said.

"Discussions continue on what could be the criteria for joining BRICS, and South Africa has intensified this work," the senior Russian diplomat said.

"I can say that, in our view, the Arab world and the Asia-Pacific region have been clearly `begging’ to join BRICS, as they have no representation there today. But we will see exactly what we can offer to the leaders regarding this, and leave this to the leaders to decide at the summit in Johannesburg," he concluded.