JakartaPost-Oct 25, 2024
Indonesia officially joined a list of 13 new BRICS partner countries on Thursday, allowing Jakarta more opportunities to cooperate with an economic grouping looking to challenge a Western-led global status quo. The new partnership status comes following months of speculation about Indonesia’s interest in joining the group, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The news was also revealed during Foreign Minister Sugiono’s first trip overseas, after his inauguration on Monday. In a three-day-long summit in Kazan, Russia, the five countries of BRICS gathered with dozens of foreign leaders and top diplomats to promote a multipolar world order amid their growing disillusionment with Western-led institutions. According to reports from Russia’s state media agency TASS, a total of 13 countries officially joined BRICS’ alliance of partner countries on Thursday, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey and Cuba. Russian officials also explained that a BRICS partnership status was not the same as a full-fledged membership, as partners would not have the ability to vote on bloc affairs or be granted full participation rights at meetings and summits. Discussions with the new partner countries regarding their preparedness to become full members would continue, Kremlin officials were quoted as saying. Officials from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry did not provide any immediate comment, and reports from the minister’s team did not explicitly address the new partnership. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2024/10/25/indonesia-named-brics-partner-as-prabowos-top-diplomat-makes-overseas-debut.html.
