Kazakhstan has no plans to join BRICS yet, although President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev has received such proposals, Berik Uali, advisor and spokesman for the head of state, told TengriNews.
“Currently, and most likely in the foreseeable future, Kazakhstan will refrain from applying to BRICS, including taking into account the multi-stage process of considering membership, as well as other points related to the prospects for the development of this association,” he said.
Proposals to join BRICS have been considered by the head of state “from the point of view of Kazakhstan’s national interests,” Uali said. For now, however, Tokayev gives priority to the UN “as a universal and alternative organization where all pressing international problems can and should be discussed,” he added.
At the same time, the Kazakh president is in favor of reforming the UN Security Council “on the basis of broad consultations of UN member states and taking into account the interests of the ‘middle powers'” because, in his opinion, this body has lost the ability “to make important and fateful decisions,” Uali noted.
As for BRICS, Tokayev is “watching with interest the evolution” of this association and is going to take part in the bloc’s summit in Russia, where he plans to speak at an extended outreach session on October 24, the topic of which will be interaction with the countries of the Global South.
The BRICS summit will start in Kazan on October 22. According to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, invitations were sent to 38 countries. As of October 15, 33 countries had confirmed their participation. 24 of them will be represented at the level of top officials. Among them, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will attend the summit.
In addition, the event will be attended by UN Secretary General António Guterres, SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming, Secretaries General of the CIS, EAEU, Union State, as well as President of the New Development Bank Dilma Rousseff.
This will be the 16th BRICS summit. It will be held for the first time in an enlarged composition. Since this year, the five main BRICS countries (Russia, China, Brazil, India, South Africa) have been joined by four more – Egypt, Iran, UAE and Ethiopia.Saudi Arabia has not yet decided on its status in the bloc.Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not accept the invitation to attend the summit. Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud will go there instead.
