The BRICS group of nations has decided to invite six countries - Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - to become new members of the bloc, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.

The debate over expanding the BRICS bloc, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has topped the agenda at a three-day summit in Johannesburg ending on Thursday.

While all BRICS members have publicly expressed support for growing the bloc, there were divisions among the leaders over how much and how quickly.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Johannesburg to attend the BRICS Summit, welcomed all six nations and vowed to work with the other nations to continue adding nations that express interest in joining.

"I take this opportunity to welcome these six nations to BRICS... and I congratulate the leaders and people of these nations. India has close ties, historic ties, with each of these countries and I believe we will work together for a new era of cooperation and prosperity."

Sources in India told news agency PTI India had taken the lead in forging consensus to select new members to add to BRICS. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister stressed India's full support for this as he presented suggestions to broaden cooperation among members.

"India fully supports the expansion of the BRICS membership and welcomes moving forward with consensus in this," the Prime Minister said as he also pitched for reform of multilateral financial institutions, the World Trade Organisation," he said.

"We have consensus on first phase of this BRICS expansion process," Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters in Johannesburg, adding, "We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, to become full members..."

"The membership will take effect from the first of January, 2024," he said, reports Reuters.

BRICS expansion has been a major focus area at this summit and over 20 countries have already applied for full membership. Expansion calls were also backed by China President Xi Jinping, who said, "We need to... accelerate the BRICS expansion process... to pool our strengths (and) our wisdom to make global governance more just and equitable."

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the decision by the BRICS group of nations to invite Ethiopia to join was "a great moment" and that his country wanted to cooperate for "an inclusive and prosperous global order".