Pakistan applies for BRICS membership: Foreign Office

The Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday that Pakistan has applied for BRICS membership, Radio Pakistan reported.

In her weekly presser, FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed Pakistan's decision, saying that the country hopes BRICS will move forward with its application.

"We have taken this decision after having noted the BRICS-related developments in Johannesburg," she said.

Baloch added that Pakistan enjoys friendly ties with most members of the BRICS as well as the newly-invited group of countries.

"Pakistan is an ardent supporter of multilateralism and is a member of several multilateral organizations. The country has played an important role in global peace and development," she added.

On Wednesday, in an interview with TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, Ambassador to Russia Muhammad Khalid Jamali said Pakistan has filed an application to join the BRICS group of nations in 2024 and was counting on Russia’s assistance during the membership process.

Islamabad plans to join the group under Russia’s presidency, in 2024, the ambassador said in the interview.

"Pakistan would like to be part of this important organization and we are in process of contacting member countries for extending support to Pakistan’s membership in general and Russian Federation in particular," Jamali said.

In August, BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - decided to invite six countries - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - to become new members of the bloc.

At the time, Baloch had said that Pakistan did not make any formal request to join the group.

BRICS urges immediate Gaza truce

Earlier this week in Johannesburg, BRICS called for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce in Gaza during an extraordinary summit where chair South Africa accused Israel of war crimes and “genocide” in the Palestinian territory.

“We called for an immediate, durable, and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities,” the group said in a summary of the meeting.

“We reiterated our strong support for regional and international efforts aimed at achieving an immediate cessation of hostilities, ensuring the protection of civilians and the provision of humanitarian aid.”