Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a media interview that BRICS is not a bloc formed against the United States and other Western nations and he welcomed the invitation for Saudi Arabia to join the group.
"No BRICS is not about political alignments ... if we continue for one decade without being part of group inside the G20, that could really create obstacles for us economically," Salman said in the interview aired on Wednesday. "So, BRICS has options, they invite us and we welcome that, and BRICS is not a group against America or the West."
Saudi Arabia, along with Iran, Egypt, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina, Ethiopia and the UAE, were invited to join the bloc at the BRICS summit in South Africa's Johannesburg in late August.
A total of 23 leaders expressed their nations' desire to join the association by submitting official applications, according to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor.