Sri Lanka plans to join BRICS, seeks India's support

He said Sri Lanka would formally approach India first if it applies to join BRICS in future.

"We will look forward for BRICS. Also, I think the cabinet had appointed a sub-committee to look into that and recommend to us. We would like to see that because we would like to have multiple options. Who doesn't want to? So therefore BRICS is a good body, particularly since India is a part of it," Sabry told ANI.

"The first country we would be talking to is India and seek India's support for us to reach to the BRICS. And then of course I have been invited to take part on the BRICS foreign ministers meeting in Russia. So I hope that I will be there and then we will assess that. And yes, I think that right now personally if you ask me, I think that we should look at BRICS seriously," he added.

The leaders of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries met for the first time in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the margins of G8 Outreach Summit in July 2006. Shortly afterwards, in September 2006, the group was formalised as BRIC during the 1st BRIC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which met on the sidelines of the General Debate of the UN Assembly in New York City.

After a series of high level meetings, the 1st BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on 16 June 2009.

BRIC group was renamed as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) after South Africa was accepted as a full member at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in September 2010. Accordingly, South Africa attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya, China on 14 April 2011.