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BRICS partner countries

States in a formal partner tier, named in official texts, with the date each status began. Not full members.

BRICS partner countries are states admitted to a formal partner tier that leaders endorsed at the Kazan summit in October 2024. They may be invited to the summit and to the foreign ministers’ meeting. They are not full members, and they do not cast the consensus that admits anyone else. As of 10 October 2026, official texts name ten: Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. India’s Press Information Bureau restated those ten names on 10 September 2026. The Rio de Janeiro Declaration of 6 July 2025 names the same ten. The BRICS New Delhi Declaration of 12 September 2026 speaks of partner countries and does not name a different set.

What is a BRICS partner country?

A BRICS partner country is a state in the partner-country category, not a member of the grouping. The Kazan Declaration, dated 23 October 2024, says: “We welcome the considerable interest by countries of the Global South in BRICS and we endorse the Modalities of BRICS Partner Country Category.” That paragraph does not name the later partners. Leaders met in Kazan from 22 to 24 October 2024. The Brazilian presidency’s 13 June 2025 announcement describes the category as established at that summit.

What partners attend is in the presidency’s note of 17 January 2025, not in a guess from the word “partner.” Partner countries are invited to the summit and the foreign ministers’ meeting. They may join other sessions “subject to consultation and consensus among member countries.” They may endorse summit declarations, foreign ministers’ joint declarations, and other final documents. The same note says leaders decide by consensus whom to invite. Members hold that decision. Partners do not. Endorsing a text is not the same act as adopting it as a member.

This site does not give partners nation pages. Pages under nations are for full members and for the invited Saudi file. The membership note points here and keeps the tiers apart.

Which countries are BRICS partners in 2026?

Ten, as of 10 October 2026. That is how many states the texts name.

On 17 January 2025 the Brazilian presidency said nine states were partner countries as of 1 January 2025: Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Nigeria. Vietnam was not among them. On 13 June 2025 the chair, “in its capacity as pro tempore BRICS Chair,” announced “the formal admission of Vietnam as a partner country” and called Vietnam the tenth. The health ministers’ declaration of 17 June 2025, from Brasília, welcomes the nine “as of 1 January 2025” and Vietnam “as of 13 June 2025.” The table uses those status dates. The January note was published on 17 January; the date it states is 1 January.

The Rio Declaration, dated 6 July 2025, records the XVII summit of 6 to 7 July. Paragraph 3 welcomes Indonesia as a member and welcomes, as partner countries, the Republic of Belarus, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Cuba, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Malaysia, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Republic of Uganda, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. Malaysia is written there without a longer official form, so this page does not add one. The table shows the other forms as that paragraph writes them.

The Indian PIB note of 10 September 2026 says the same ten “joined this framework during 2025.” It does not add an eleventh partner. Its full-member sentences mention Saudi Arabia. This page does not adopt that. Saudi Arabia is not in the partner sentence. The Saudi Arabia page stays invited / unsettled.

The BRICS New Delhi Declaration is dated 12 September 2026, for the summit of 12 to 13 September. Paragraph 3 says: “We recognise the valuable contribution of Partner countries to BRICS cooperation.” It encourages participation. It does not add a name or drop one, so it is not a new roster beside the PIB note of 10 September. The policy desk’s reading is BRICS New Delhi Declaration 2026.

Region links use this site’s member-region files: Eurasia for Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan (Russia is the full member there; there is no separate Europe or Central Asia page), Latin America for Bolivia and Cuba, and Southeast Asia for Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Nigeria (West Africa) and Uganda (East Africa) have no member-region file.

Rio and the September PIB note confirm the names. They do not move the start dates in the “partner since” column.

Is a partner country the same as a BRICS member?

No. A full member sits in the consensus that admits states. A partner country is invited into the Kazan category and may endorse documents. An invited state whose accession is still publicly unsettled is a third status.

The Indonesia page records full membership confirmed by the Brazilian presidency in January 2025. Rio welcomes Indonesia as a member in the same paragraph that welcomes the ten as partners. Indonesia is not a row in the partner table.

Saudi Arabia was invited at the Johannesburg summit in August 2023. It is absent from the January 2025 partner announcement, the June 2025 Vietnam announcement, the Rio partner list, and the PIB list of ten partners. The PIB note of 10 September 2026 does mention the Kingdom among full members. The membership note keeps the invited file until public accession is unambiguous. This page does not place the Kingdom in either column of members or partners.

A headcount that adds these partners to the full members will not match a members-only count, or a fixed group such as the G7. The definition desk’s comparison is BRICS and the G7.

How does a country become a BRICS partner?

Members invite by consensus, and the rotating chair announces the state once it has accepted. The 17 January 2025 note describes the stages. The chair holds informal consultations, using geographic balance and good diplomatic relations with all members. Leaders then decide by consensus to invite the country. The chair announces the partner when it has accepted.

Kazan endorsed the category and named no one. This page does not add a row from a press tally, and it does not print a count of unnamed interested states. The January note mentions other interest without naming those states. Only a later official text that names a partner would add a row, with that text and that date.

Can partner countries become full members?

The texts cited here do not turn partner status into membership by itself. The accession they record from this period is Indonesia’s, and Indonesia is not one of the ten.

Indonesia was not in the 1 January 2024 expansion. The Brazilian presidency confirmed full membership in January 2025, and Rio welcomes it as a member in the same paragraph that welcomes the ten as partners. The January 2025 partner announcement does not include Indonesia, and the 13 June note calls Vietnam the tenth partner alongside the nine. Nothing in the Kazan, Rio, or New Delhi partner paragraphs says a partner becomes a member when time passes.

Short answer

Related pages

• Membership note — how full members, the invited file, and partners are separated.
• Nations — full members, plus the Saudi file.
• Indonesia — full member from January 2025, not a partner row.
• Saudi Arabia — invited / unsettled. Not a partner.
• Methodology — what a page on this site may and may not claim.