Pakistan has expressed its desire to join the BRICS as a member, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has decided not to attend the India meet of the grouping’s foreign ministers meeting on May 14 and 15.
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday (May 12, 2026) confirmed they would attend the meeting, to be chaired by Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, in an interview with a Russian media platform, said his nation wants to become a full member of BRICS, and that Islamabad counted a broad-based support for its candidacy among the grouping’s member-nations.
“Pakistan is a natural partner of BRICS. Only one country opposes Pakistan’s accession to BRICS. No other country has any objections to Pakistan joining BRICS,” Tirmizi said on Tuesday (May 12).
“Pakistan is a member of the SCO, and India is a member as well. Therefore, Pakistan can and should be a BRICS member. All other countries, except India, have expressed a strong desire to see Pakistan as a member,” he added.
Tirmizi expressed confidence that Pakistan’s BRICS membership “would bring more benefits to the organisation.” He said, “Russia has always supported this. China supports this. South Africa supports this. Brazil supports this.”
Though not in the context of Pakistan, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, at his weekly media briefing the same day, noted that BRICS memberships are accorded to nations through consensus among existing members. This indirectly meant that without India’s approval, Pakistan would never become a BRICS member.
Meanwhile, Wang Yi’s absence from the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting in New Delhi was explained away by Beijing, as he was expected in the Chinese capital for the Xi Jinping-Donald Trump summit meeting on May 13, 14, and 15. China would be represented in the BRICS meeting by its ambassador to India, Xu Feihong.
The 11-member BRICS meeting in New Delhi comes at a time when uncertainty prevails in the war in West Asia, and several Gulf nations are angry with Iran for its military attacks on their territory during the conflict with the US and Israel.
Apart from Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are members of BRICS, and sparks are expected to fly among the three nations at the BRICS foreign ministers’ meet in New Delhi.