JOHANNESBURG /South Africa/, August 24. /TASS/. The inclusion of new members into the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will further strengthen it as an organization and give it a new impetus, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a press conference on the results of the association’s 15th summit on Thursday.

"India has always believed that the addition of new members will further strengthen BRICS as an organization and it will give our shared efforts a new impetus," Modi said.

As the Indian prime minister pointed out, the BRICS expansion "will also strengthen the belief of many countries in the multipolar world order."

Modi congratulated the leaders and peoples of the countries that were joining BRICS.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced after the completion of the bloc’s 15th summit in Johannesburg earlier on Thursday that Argentina, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia would join BRICS from January 1, 2024.