--- title: "Johannesburg summit of August 2023 — Definition & Meaning" description: "The Johannesburg summit of August 2023 was the 15th BRICS summit, notable for its first expansion since 2010 with six new member invitations." url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/johannesburg-summit-of-august-2023" --- [New](https://modeldiplomat.com/) # Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026 TL;DR - The Johannesburg summit of August 2023 was the 15th BRICS summit, hosted by South Africa, which approved the bloc's first expansion since 2010 by inviting six new members. - Which six countries were invited to join BRICS at the August 2023 Johannesburg summit? - Why did President Putin not attend the Johannesburg summit in person? - What was the theme and key declaration of the 15th BRICS summit? - How did the Johannesburg summit reflect divergence within BRICS? [Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026 Go beyond the definition ## Research Johannesburg summit of August 2023 like a delegate Model Diplomat's AI drafts position papers, speeches, and country research with real sources — built for MUN and politics students. ## Timeline 1. 24 August 2023 The Johannesburg summit of August 2023 was the 15th annual summit of BRICS — the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — held from 22 to… 2. 1 January 2024 The summit's central outcome was the decision to admit six new members — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — with m… ## Positions at a glance ### Supporters The summit's central outcome was the decision to admit six new members — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — with membership to take effect on 1 January 2024, marking the first enlargement of the bloc since South Africa itself joined in 2010 (the original BRIC having formed in 2009). The leaders tasked their foreign ministers with developing the BRICS partner-country model and guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures for further expansion. India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazil under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were seen as favouring cautious enlargement, while China under Xi Jinping pushed for rapid expansion to amplify a counterweight to the G7. The declaration also advanced discussion on local-currency trade settlement and reducing dollar dependence, tasking finance ministers and central bank governors to study the matter, and reaffirmed support for the New Development Bank (NDB), headquartered in Shanghai under President Dilma Rousseff. ### Opponents The Johannesburg summit of August 2023 was the 15th annual summit of BRICS — the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — held from 22 to 24 August 2023 in Johannesburg under the South African chairmanship of President Cyril Ramaphosa. Convened under the theme "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism," it produced the Johannesburg II Declaration, an 94-paragraph document. The summit was notable for the physical absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who participated by video link because South Africa, as a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, would have been obliged to execute the ICC arrest warrant issued against him in March 2023 over the deportation of Ukrainian children; Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attended in his place. ## Research it like a delegate Research on modeldiplomat.com ## Ask a follow-up about Johannesburg summit of August 2023 Open a cited briefing in Model Diplomat search — timelines, positions, and sources you can use in committee or exam answers. [Start research on Johannesburg summit of August 2023](https://modeldiplomat.com/search?q=Explain%20Johannesburg%20summit%20of%20August%202023%20%E2%80%94%20key%20dates%2C%20actors%2C%20positions%2C%20and%20sources) Example At the Johannesburg summit in August 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that BRICS had invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Egypt, Ethiopia and Argentina to join from 1 January 2024. 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