Azerbaijan has officially applied to join the BRICS group, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The bid follows Azerbaijan’s expression of interest during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Astana in early July this year. During the summit, a joint declaration on strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and China was signed, one of the clauses of which outlines Azerbaijan’s intention to join BRICS. China supported Azerbaijan’s application and promised to support Azerbaijan’s accession to the group.

BRICS currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as well as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. BRICS has become a major international forum, organising annual summits and coordinating on various multilateral issues.