Sudan Hopes to Join BRICS in Near Future - Presidential Aide

Sudan is hoping to join BRICS in the near future, the Sudanese presidential aide and deputy chair of the High Committee for Overseeing Sudan’s Relations with BRICS, told Sputnik on Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Al-Jaz, Sudan has established a special national committee responsible for contacts with BRICS to accelerate the process of joining the organization.

"The [Sudanese] government has established a committee for relations with this group [BRICS]… It means that when all necessary elements are in place, Sudan will become a member state of this group," Al-Jaz said.

The presidential aide stressed that Sudan was also planning to join the work of the BRICS New Development Bank.

On Friday, Al-Jaz met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Both sides noted mutual willingness to expand Russian-Sudanese cooperation on both international and regional arenas, as well as to deepen partnership in trade and economy.

In 2015, Sudan expressed its willingness to obtain observer status in BRICS, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The three-day BRICS summit in China's Xiamen kicked off on Sunday. The event is being held in a new so-called BRICS Plus format, with leaders of such non-BRICS countries as Egypt, Mexico, Thailand, Guinea and Tajikistan also taking part in the event alongside the leaders of the five BRICS nations — Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa and India.