11:34,

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia should consider joining BRICS as an observer in the initial phase and get involved in regional mega projects, according to analyst Mher Sahakyan.

Speaking to ARMENPRESS, the analyst and expert on China said that although Armenia can’t be compared with BRICS countries in terms of its opportunities and size of the economy, it should nevertheless seek to gain an observer status in the organization in order to be present in multilateral relations, to be involved in the markets of the member states.

Four BRICS members have embassies in Armenia, and Russia – one of the main actors in BRICS – is Armenia’s main strategic ally, Sahakyan said.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov had said that nearly 20 countries are seeking to get BRICS membership.

BRICS is an association of five regional economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. All five states are members of the G20. The BRICS were originally identified for the purpose of highlighting investment opportunities and had not been a formal intergovernmental organization.

“We are now in a multipolar world order where BRICS is carrying out its important work. This platform was created for discussing geopolitical and global economic issues and finding mutually beneficial solutions, because it has brought together countries that don’t agree with the approaches of the West and are trying to have their independent policy. It’s no coincidence that countries which already have certain influence in their region such as Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt want to join the organization,” Sahakyan said.

Nonetheless, some of the BRICS countries continue to closely cooperate with the U.S., for example India, which is both a BRICS member and a Quad group member, with the latter being mostly comprised of China rivals – the U.S., Japan and Australia. Recently India also rejected the NATO+ platform, refusing to take anti-Russia steps.

“Nevertheless, BRICS is not an alliance, the members seek to be independent actors. These are no longer the countries against which the U.S. can use the carrot and stick policy. Particularly China has powerful levers capable of imposing corresponding sanctions against the American side in response to sanctions imposed against it. After all, BRICS is an arena enabling developed countries to counter the U.S. by bypassing the ban on cooperating with Russia and China. Several African countries who don’t want to get cut off from such a circle are also displaying such conduct,” he said.