Belarus hopes to join BRICS after Kazan summit

MINSK. Sept 9 (Interfax) - Belarus expects to become a BRICS member based on the outcomes of the group's upcoming summit in Russia's Kazan, Belarusian First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Lukashevich said.

"The decisions of the upcoming summit in Kazan will allow the Republic of Belarus to gain new status in the group," the SB. Belarus Segodnya state-run media outlet quoted Lukashevich as saying at a press briefing for diplomats of the BRICS member countries accredited in Belarus in Minsk on Monday.

Belarus is in the first pool of BRICS candidate countries along with Algeria, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Bolivia, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal and Thailand, he said.

"We support BRICS' intention to hold an extensive dialogue with the countries concerned with the aim of creating opportunities for intensifying cooperation in a large number of areas, ranging from agriculture for the purpose of ensuring global food security to high tech developments," Lukashevich said.

As reported, the press briefing, which dealt with Belarus' progress within BRICS, was attended by representatives of Russia, China, India, Brazil, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Diplomats of the Egyptian and Ethiopian embassies with their residence in Moscow joined it by video link.