NEW DELHI, August 29. /TASS/. The accession of new countries to the BRICS group will contribute to the economic growth of all member states, Thettalil Parameswaran Sreenivasan, an Indian diplomat and former ambassador to several countries, said at a seminar entitled The Significance of the 15th BRICS Summit in Trivandrum in the south of the country.

"The decision of the 15th summit of BRICS to invite Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates into the club would change the economic growth among the member nations. But BRICS nations have a long way to go to transform themselves into a unified global organization that can effectively challenge the present polarization in world economy," Sreenivasan said. TASS has a transcript of his speech at the event.

"BRICS was founded as an alternative to global bodies viewed as dominated by the traditional Western powers. But to unlock benefits including development finance, and increased trade, the member nations need to reach consensus on many issues existing in today's geopolitical situation," he stressed.

Russia’s Honorary Consul and Director of the Russian House in Trivandrum, Mr. Ratheesh C. Nair, has told TASS the seminar of the Russian House in Trivandrum was organized jointly with Capital Centre (research center of the Central University of Kerala). In his speech, Capital Centre expert S Adikesavan said that the New Development Bank was of great importance for the BRICS to become more effective. "To make BRICS economically more integrated, the New Development Bank of the BRICS countries is yet to achieve a global scale," he said. The expert added that BRICS enlargement would also "catalyze the process of dedollarization."

The participants in the seminar expressed the opinion that inviting new countries into BRICS would strengthen the position of the association and contribute to its further development.

The leaders of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - adopted the Johannesburg Declaration on August 24 at the end of the quintet’s summit. It was presented after the leaders met at the summit held in South Africa. The association incorporated six new members: starting from January 1, 2024 Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will join it.