JAKARTA, September 24. /TASS/. Indonesia is interested in joining BRICS and it is estimating the benefit of such a step, Winardi Hanafi Lucky, Director of the 2nd European Department at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said.

"Regarding BRICS, we are interested. We have to explore details, expectations from the entry. This is still in process," he said on the sidelines of a seminar of the Valdai Discussion Club on development of the Russian-Indonesian relations when asked about the prospects of the republic’s membership in the integration.

Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto has not confirmed his participation in the BRICS summit in Kazan yet as its timing is close to the inauguration date, the diplomat added. "It is not clear yet, the inauguration of president elect is scheduled (for October 20 - TASS)," he said.

Since its inception in 2006, BRICS has experienced two phases of expansion. In 2011, South Africa joined the original group, which included Brazil, Russia, India, and China. On January 1, 2024, five new members officially entered BRICS, namely Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that 34 countries had expressed their wish to work with BRICS. Russia assumed the one-year rotating chairmanship of BRICS on January 1, 2024. The BRICS summit will be held in Kazan, Tatarstan, in Russia’s Volga region, on October 22-24.