Five countries officially joined the BRICS

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BRICS is a group comprising of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
New members, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have confirmed the invitation to join BRICS.
- Argentina has decided to not join BRICS.
The last expansion of the BRICS occurred in 2010 when South Africa joined the group.

Significance of expansion
- Increased global representation: BRICS now represents almost half the world's population and over a quarter of global GDP.
- Shifting power dynamics: Will increase multipolarity and will challenge the established Western-led order.
- South-South cooperation: Will raise cooperation among developing countries.
  - This will help India in advancing its claim as the leader of the global south.
- Strategic: Will help to make a collective voice for the restructuring of global institutions.

Challenges with the BRICS
- The divergence between countries with respect to their world view for example India sees BRICS as non-western whereas China sees it as anti-western.
- Various economic and political sanctions on members may cause economic disruptions.
- Internal trust deficit among the member states and lack of common understanding of standards, criteria, and procedure of expansion.
- Overlapping with other groups like IBSA (India, Brazil, and South Africa).