Many, especially in the West, had predicted a significant rift among BRICS members over expansion of the five-member group. There was speculation that while China was keen on expanding the footprints of the bloc, India and Brazil were not particularly interested in furthering the scope of a China-dominated arrangement. China as the second largest economy in the world has the highest GDP among BRICS nations and lends economic weight to the group. Differences over procedure as well as how many and which countries should be admitted were expected to result in hours of wrangling among members.