JOHANNESBURG /South Africa/, August 24. /TASS/. The second day of the BRICS summit, which brought together the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, ended late on Wednesday with a reception hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The reception was held at the Gallagher Estate conference center on the outskirts of Joannesburg.
BRICS leaders arrived in Gallagher Estate immediately after the plenary session, which took longer than planned.
The plenary session was expected to continue for approximately two hours and 30 minutes. According to information circulating on the sidelines of the event, it lasted nearly twice as long due to the need to agree on a number of provisions in the summit’s final declaration, including pertaining to the group’s expansion.
South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said the leaders had eventually come to terms about accepting new members and approved a document specifying membership’s principles, requirements and procedure.
It became known on the sidelines of the summit that the door to membership will be open to between three and five countries. Argentina, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are named among them. At the same time, the organization’s name - which is an acronym for its current members - will not be changed.