As sanctions imposed by US and Europe take a heavy toll, Myanmar’s junta is seeking to join the BRICS group that includes three of its main allies – China, Russia and India.
The BRICS economic bloc encompasses Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
On September 1, Myanmar’s ambassador to Brazil, U Aung Kyaw Zan, paid a call on Brazil’s coordinator of interregional mechanisms for BRICS and asked about the procedures and requirements to join the bloc and its New Development Bank.
The junta’s foreign ministry said it was exploring the possibility of joining the bloc after BRICS leaders decided in favor of expanding the membership at their summit in August.
Formed in 2006, the bloc originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China but became known as BRICS with the addition of South Africa in 2010.
At its summit in South Africa last month, the bloc agreed to admit Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates. The six countries will formally become members on January 1, 2024.
Eyeing the expansion, Myanmar’s military regime has taken the first step to joining the BRICS and forging closer ties with its allies Russia, China and India. Observers say the junta is also attracted by possible access to loans from the BRICS’ New Development Bank, which would help plug its huge budget deficit.
Meanwhile, junta media have been offering extensive coverage of BRICS meetings, including editorials and op-eds that extol the blocs’ influence while slamming the West.
An August 30 editorial in junta newspapers hailed BRICS for heralding “a shift in the world order”. China and Russia were leading the shift, said junta propaganda sheets in a Sept. 5 op-ed, which declared support for attempts by the regime’s main allies to forge the bloc as a counterweight to the West.
Faced with diplomatic isolation, the regime has been expanding ties beyond China, India and Russia to Middle East and African nations.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which will become members of the BRICS next year, have good ties with the junta.
The military regime currently has embassies in four Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt. South Africa, which hosted the BRICS Summit in August, is the only other country in Africa where the regime has diplomatic representation.
The junta is exploring the possibility of joining BRICS amid its deepening isolation from the Association of South East Asian Nations. ASEAN has banned regime officials from attending regional summits after the junta ignored the bloc’s five-point peace plan agreed soon after the February 2021 coup.
On Monday, leaders at the latest ASEAN Summit ruled that the Philippines will take over as ASEAN chair for 2026 instead of Myanmar.
