KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — Malaysia has conveyed its desire for South Africa to support its entry into Brics that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said this was among the topics discussed during a visit from the former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, Dr Naledi Mandisa Pandor, yesterday.

"In addition, I also touched on the need to champion the issues important to the developing countries of the Global South and the cooperation that should be fostered,” he said in a Facebook post.

Dr Naledi is on a visit to Malaysia to attend the 7th World Conference on Islamic Thought & Civilisation organised by Sultan Azlan Shah University (USAS) in Perak.

Brics, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, and China, was established in 2009 as a cooperation platform for rapidly developing economies.

South Africa joined the bloc in 2010, followed by Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The prime minister said the meeting also touched on the current situation in Palestine and the world’s inability to stop the oppression of the Palestinian people.

Anwar said he also expressed Malaysia’s firm stance and strong condemnation of the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.

At the end of the meeting, Dr Naledi presented a commemorative work of former South African President the late Nelson Mandela, containing his notes and speeches during his tenure as President of South Africa.

The book, Anwar said, is a bestseller, continuing the legacy of Nelson Mandela’s earlier work, Long Walk to Freedom. — Bernama