KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban government has expressed a strong desire to join the BRICS economic forum, a coalition that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, a spokesman said on Tuesday ahead of the group’s summit from October 22-24 in Kazan, Russia.
Hamdullah Fitrat, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, emphasized the significance of BRICS as a platform for countries with major resources and large economies. “Countries with major resources and the world’s biggest economies are associated with the BRICS forum, especially Russia, India, and China,” he stated.
Fitrat highlighted Afghanistan’s existing economic ties and commercial exchanges with BRICS nations and expressed a keen interest in expanding these relationships through participation in BRICS economic discussions.
Despite the Taliban’s efforts to integrate into the global economic community, the Taliban government has yet to receive official recognition from any country since taking power in August 2021. However, its relationships with key BRICS members, particularly China and Russia, have been strengthening.
Both nations have signaled their willingness to invest in Afghanistan and support its government, particularly in addressing security threats posed by the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), the local affiliate of the Islamic State group.
The BRICS group recently expanded to include new members such as Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Ethiopia, yet it has not publicly responded to the Taliban’s request for membership.
A spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they had received “no information so far” regarding an invitation to the upcoming summit.
