JOHANNESBURG, July 24. /TASS/. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev explained that other countries find BRICS appealing because of the positive culture that exists within the organization.

"We see a growing interest of the countries participating in today's meeting in deepening cooperation with the ‘original five’ (the founding countries of BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - TASS). The key to the attractiveness of BRICS for many countries of the Global South and the Global East is that this platform has no confrontational or hidden agenda," Patrushev said at a meeting of top security officials of the BRICS countries with the Friends of BRICS group.

Patrushev emphasized that the members of the association "do not build communication on the ‘master-slave’ principle, where someone sets the tone and the rest follow these guidelines, but on the basis of a coordinated approach."

According to Patrushev, BRICS is gaining an increasingly important role "as an innovative format of interstate cooperation." "Over the years of cooperation in the five countries, a culture of dialogue has been formed. Open and trusting relations have developed, based on the principles of sovereign equality, respect for the choice of their own path of development and consideration of each other's interests," the top Russian security official said. In his opinion, this helps the organization’s participants to "always find common ground and mutually acceptable solutions even on the most difficult issues." "This approach is already bearing fruit and pleasing our friends," Patrushev said.

He assured that "the organization’s doors are open to interaction with like-minded structures within the framework of the proven BRICS Outreach and BRICS Plus formats." "Its development has become one of the priorities of the South African presidency and we fully support it," Patrushev pointed out. According to him, "the involvement of a wide range of countries in discussions within the BRICS framework, the formation of a permanent circle of friends of the association will help consolidate the efforts of the world majority to solve common development problems and overcome current challenges in various spheres, including security."

South Africa is presiding over the BRICS group this year. The meeting marks the 13th such gathering of senior security officials from the BRICS countries. The first one was held in 2009 at Moscow’s initiative. The recommendations from the current meeting will be submitted to the BRICS Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Johannesburg on August 22-24. Russia will assume the rotating BRICS presidency in early 2024.