Thailand eyes bigger role in intl arena, with BRICS membership bid approved

At a weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that as far as membership in BRICS is concerned, it is for the grouping to decide, and the grouping decides based on certain criteria that they have laid down. So if the group decides on a particular membership of expansion or to consider a particular country, the group will do so as per the guidelines of the BRICS grouping, he added

The BRICS economic union, in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), plans a significant investment of $13.5 billion in the oil sector

Much is talked about the economic and geopolitical decline of the American superpower. The erosion of its supposed moral authority, however, is also a very concrete phenomenon, with implications for soft power, and credibility - and may have weighed as a factor in the rising Global South trend towards non-alignment.

Belousov has been at the helm of the country's most prominent ministry for over a month and his appointment also coincides with a massive increase in Russian defense spending, now slated to exceed half a trillion dollars in real (GDP PPP) terms. The new Defense Minister immediately decided to streamline his department's leadership, reshuffling positions to accomplish maximum efficiency.

The measure could lead to a serious escalation in relations between Moscow and NATO.