Illustration: Liu Rui/ GT

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday the official entry of Indonesia as a full member into BRICS, marking the first expansion of the group since Brazil assumed the rotating presidency for 2025. This milestone serves as an example for other Southeast Asian nations that are increasingly interested in BRICS cooperation, potentially injecting new impetus to enhance collaboration between BRICS and Southeast Asia.

"Indonesia's accession to BRICS is an inevitable trend," Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. As the largest country in Southeast Asia and a key representative of developing nations worldwide, Indonesia's official entry into BRICS serves the common interests of BRICS countries and the Global South, injecting new vitality into global governance reform and economic growth. It could enhance the representation and influence of the BRICS mechanism in international affairs, contributing to the building of a new type of global relations. 

Amid rising anti-globalization sentiment and a volatile international landscape, development and cooperation remain the main theme for Southeast Asian nations. "Indonesia was actively involved in the BRICS agenda, which includes promoting economic resilience, technology collaboration and solutions to global concerns, including climate change and public health," said the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

On January 1, nine countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, became BRICS partner countries. Indonesia's transition from a partner country to a full member can be partly attributed to its strong recognition of the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation and its active participation in "BRICS Plus" cooperation. "This could have a demonstration effect for other Southeast Asian nations who are interested in joining BRICS," Shen Shishun, director of the Department for Asia-Pacific Security and Cooperation at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times.

In recent years, Southeast Asia's growing interest in BRICS has been driven by multiple factors. First, amid sluggish global economic growth, emerging economies represented by BRICS have become vital engines of global growth. The cooperative mechanisms and public goods offered by BRICS, such as the New Development Bank, provide robust support for the sustainable development of emerging economies, prompting many to align with the group.

For Southeast Asian countries, joining BRICS means broader development opportunities, including the ability to benefit from preferential policies among member countries. At the same time, as a multilateral economic cooperation organization, BRICS offers member countries a broader platform for cooperation in addressing development challenges, enabling them to enhance policy coordination and mutual assistance through dialogue mechanisms.

More importantly, BRICS attracts Southeast Asian nations with its openness and inclusivity. Unlike some Western groups with exclusivist tendencies, BRICS advocates globalization and mutual benefit, which align closely with Southeast Asia's development priorities. The BRICS platform allows these nations to seek collaborative opportunities and pursue common development without being forced to take sides. Indonesia's full membership in BRICS not only injects new momentum into its own development, but also serves as an example for other Southeast Asian countries, demonstrating how to find opportunities in multilateral cooperation that align with their interests. 

The enhanced strategic autonomy has become a defining trend in Southeast Asia's policymaking. Regional leaders, such as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, have repeatedly expressed their rejection of being pawns in great-power competition, saying "no" to the West's calls to take sides. Increasingly, nations in the region recognize that maintaining strategic independence, rather than becoming subservient to superpowers, is key to maximizing national interests. 

As BRICS continues to expand, some Western media have shown growing anxiety, framing the mechanism as a challenge to Western dominance. Such interpretations are overly narrow and rooted in Cold War thinking. BRICS is not about confrontation or replacing the existing international order; rather, it aims to address its deficiencies and contribute to a more equitable and efficient global governance system.

As a key platform for fostering solidarity and cooperation among Global South nations, BRICS plays a vital role in transforming the global governance system. Welcoming new members into the BRICS family aligns with the historic trend of the collective rise of the Global South. As BRICS evolves, the high-quality development of "greater BRICS cooperation" is expected to contribute to the shared goal of building a community with a shared future for humanity. 

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn