Pakistan formally applied to join BRICS in 2023 and has since pushed major members, including Russia and China, to support its case. Yet Islamabad remains outside the grouping even as BRICS has expanded and brought several new countries into its fold. The wait has put renewed attention on Pakistan’s membership bid as BRICS leaders gather in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit.
A Nikkei Asia report said Pakistan purchased a stake worth about $580 million in the bank, a move aimed at widening its financing options. Pakistan has also moved closer to the BRICS-backed New Development Bank. The expansion has increased the economic weight of the grouping and made membership more attractive for countries seeking stronger trade and investment links with emerging economies. Pakistan’s engagement with the New Development Bank shows how seriously Islamabad is pursuing closer economic links with the BRICS system. But participation in a BRICS-linked financial institution and membership of the political grouping are separate matters. For Pakistan, that distinction is now hard to ignore. It has applied for membership, courted some of BRICS’ most powerful states and put hundreds of millions of dollars into a bank created by the grouping.
