Interview: BRICS plays increasingly important int'l role, says scholar

ISTANBUL, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- BRICS countries are playing an increasingly important role in the international arena, with many countries wishing to join the bloc, a Turkish academic has said.

"We see the world's emerging economies ... coalescing around BRICS, and it is gradually becoming a center of attraction," Baris Doster, a scholar with Marmara University, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

South Africa hosted the 15th BRICS Summit on Aug. 22-24, during which BRICS leaders agreed to invite six countries, namely, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to join the group.

"More than 40 states are queuing up to become BRICS members, trying to establish contacts, become candidates or aspirants," the scholar said, adding that such mass interest in joining the cooperative platform indicates a revolt against unilateralism.

Doster believes that the summit is very important during such a turbulent period.

More than 60 leaders and representatives of African countries and other emerging economies, as well as leaders of international and regional organizations, such as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and President of the New Development Bank Dilma Rousseff, attended the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit.

Also, the expert said that China has made great efforts to ensure that the BRICS cooperation mechanism become an example of international diplomacy based on equality and respect for the interests of all countries.

In Doster's view, China has already done its best to promote global development based on win-win cooperation through its Belt and Road Initiative.

"China has a growing, developing, and diversifying domestic market and a growing middle class. In this context, China has a significant, special, and unique position in the world economy," he said.