JOHANNESBURG /South Africa/, August 24. /TASS/. In calling BRICS an economic club, Western countries are trying to downplay the real significance of the association, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters.
The top Russian diplomat drew attention to the fact that Western media outlets, announcing the opening of the BRICS summit, explained that "BRICS is a kind of economic club." "Calling BRICS an economic club clearly downplays its real significance," he said.
Speaking about the range of areas for developing cooperation between the countries of the bloc, Lavrov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously spoken about the promising North-South international transport corridor being linked with the Northern Sea Route. The Foreign Minister noted that "with the involvement of the countries of the Middle East, the countries of the Persian Gulf, the opportunities for the effective implementation of these logistics projects are only increasing."
"Therefore, the President [of Russia Vladimir Putin] proposed to create a commission on transport issues in BRICS. I think we will do this under our chairmanship," the Russian Foreign Minister added.
The minister also noted the successful landing of the Vikram module with a lunar rover on board near the south pole of the Moon by the Indian Space Research Organization, stressing that space is also "a very promising area."
The 15th BRICS Summit was held on August 22-24 in Johannesburg under the chairmanship of South Africa. It became the largest meeting of heads of state and government of the Global South in recent years. The invitees included the leaders of 54 African countries. The summit participants agreed that from January 1, 2024, Argentina, Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia will join the association. A new list of possible members of the association will be prepared for the next summit.