Udaya Gammanpila stresses need for Sri Lanka to join BRICS

Writes to President asking for steps in this regard  

• At the latest summit of BRICS in South Africa, another six  countries secured full membership

Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader MP Udaya Gammanpila requested President Ranil Wickremesinghe in writing to take steps for Sri Lanka to become a member of BRICS, an organized named after its original five members.  

Mr. Gammanpila, in an open letter to the President, said global economic and political trends change fast, and the world power is shifting towards Asia. 

He said it is high time for Sri Lanka to review its foreign policy in the latest context and reset it accordingly.  
At the latest summit of BRICS in Johannesburg, South Africa, another six countries - Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Argentina - secured full membership of it. A number of other countries have sought to join it.   

The countries in BRICS account for 27 percent of the global GDP. As an initiative of BRICS, a lending agency called ‘New Development Bank’ has been set up with an initial capital of US $ 50 billion as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.   

Mr. Gammanpila said the US dollar, as an international currency, dominated the global market with the backing of the G7 countries including the United States. He said BRICS is now exploring a common approach for international transactions, independent of the US dollar.