Over the years, BRICS has emerged as a significant international group of leading nations from the Global non-West and South. The appeal of its activities is underscored by the desire of numerous developing states to join the group. BRICS attributes considerable importance to its image as a symbolic alternative, although it consistently emphasises that its activities are not directed against third countries.
However, as an independent centre of power and attraction in the non-Western world, BRICS places great emphasis on formulating its own platform of shared values. This sets BRICS declarations apart from those of the G20, where there is no unified value platform between Western and non-Western nations.
The evolution of the articulation of BRICS value priorities has been dialectical over time, changing from summit to summit. Each chairing country has highlighted its own priorities. Consequently, the BRICS value set is an amalgamation of diverse national values, which may complement each other but need not coincide entirely. This distinguishes BRICS outcome documents from the established list of G7 values, with their classic liberal triad of “freedom – democracy – human rights,” alongside the rule of law and a competitive economy.
Nonetheless, it is clear that during the years 2022 to 2024, there was a notable consolidation of the BRICS value priorities within the semantically established framework of the BRICS spirit. At the core of the BRICS spirit lie the following values: mutual respect, mutual understanding, sovereign equality, solidarity, openness, inclusiveness, consensus, and also strengthening collaboration, and democracy.
