President Prabowo Subianto attended the opening of the 2025 BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday, July 6, 2025, marking a historic moment as Indonesia participates for the first time as a full member of the association.

According to Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, Indonesia’s participation in the BRICS forum is the result of Prabowo’s initiative during his first year in office as President.

“Indonesia’s entry into BRICS membership was initiated directly by President Prabowo in his first year as President of the Republic of Indonesia, and was warmly welcomed by all BRICS members. Indonesia was quickly accepted as the 11th member of BRICS,” Teddy said as quoted in a statement on Sunday.

With the addition of Indonesia, the BRICS group now consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran, and Indonesia, collectively representing 50 percent of the world’s population and 35 percent of global GDP.

President Prabowo views Indonesia’s inclusion in BRICS as a strategic step to strengthen the country's global standing.

“President Prabowo is optimistic that Indonesia’s participation in BRICS will strengthen the nation’s position on the global stage, while emphasizing the importance of international cooperation through forums like BRICS to support global stability and prosperity,” Teddy said.

He cited that President Prabowo once again reiterated one of the guiding principles of his foreign policy in the forum − the importance of expanding networks of friendship and strategic cooperation among nations to promote peace and global prosperity.

“Indonesia’s accession to BRICS membership is a realization of the President’s longstanding principle: ‘A thousand friends are too few, one enemy is too many,’” Teddy said.