Pakistani senator Mushahid Hussain who is visiting Moscow this week claimed that Pakistan could join the intergovernmental geopolitical bloc, BRICS, with Russian backing. He said that it could be possible because Russia is the current chair of BRICS 2024. He said Russia and Pakistan ties in the field of energy, connectivity, education, regional security including Afghanistan and cooperation at multilateral fora including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the UN has increased.