China under Xi Jinping seeks global leadership and recognition. India under Modi often appears to focus on image rather than impact, using symbolic gestures such as publicizing birthday wishes from world leaders to boost his domestic standing. Meanwhile, Putin prefers ambiguity.

Unlike Xi and Modi, he isn't interested in building a new world order; ge's unraveling the current one. He doesn't need to dominate headlines; he only needs to shape events quietly, from behind the curtain. He is neither a democratic leader nor a moral leader. He is, undeniably, a Machiavellian leader and perhaps the most successful one of the 21st century – one who clearly understands that perception is temporary but power is permanent.

One of Machiavelli's forgotten lessons is that a prince must control the resources his enemies need. Putin has applied this idea to oil and gas with clinical precision. Russia is one of the world's largest exporters of oil and natural gas. It is well known that the United States relies on oil being traded in US dollars to protect American hegemony.

For decades, much of the top demand for Russian oil was from European countries like Germany and the Netherlands. Thus, when the West imposed sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many predicted Moscow's economic and geopolitical isolation. Instead, Putin flipped the narrative.

After Europe cut itself off from Russian energy due to the Ukraine war, Russia urgently needed new buyers. Putin quickly redirected massive volumes of oil at discounted prices to India and China. Soon, China and India, the top consumers of the energy market, became the top buyers of discounted Russian crude. He created a new Eastern energy bloc that undermines the Western sanctions.

At first glance, Russia, China, and India don't look like allies. They have different systems, rivalries and global priorities. More importantly, India and China distrust each other; they've even fought border skirmishes. But here's Putin playing by true Machiavellian principle: The key to power isn't brute force. It's making others do what benefits you while they think it benefits them. That's Putin's play.

Instead of splitting China and India as traditional rivals, he gave them a shared economic interest: cheap, reliable oil. On paper, they're on opposite sides of the geopolitical map, but Russian energy has put them, if not in alliance, at least in parallel cooperation. He turns rivals into co-participants.

India thinks it's just buying cheap oil. China thinks it's gaining an ally against America. But both are also funding Russia's war effort and softening the impact of Western sanctions, exactly what Putin needs to make Russia stay relevant and funded.

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More importantly, while Russia profits from its oil deals, India and China are absorbing the backlash. India is hit with record-high tariffs from the US. China is now on Donald Trump's top target list facing intensified trade wars, tech restrictions and export bans, primarily due to buying Russian oil.

The silent winner

Putin, as a true Machiavellian leader, subtly guided China and India to serve Russia's long-term interest without realizing that they are the ones who will be forced to pay the highest price for defying the Western hegemony. So, in today's geopolitical landscape, Russia is the quiet winner. The war in Ukraine has quietly expanded its reach to the shores of India and China through economic sanctions and tariffs.

This is no accident. Putin deliberately shuns the spotlight, whether it's in the SCO Summit or G20. He doesn't sell the world hope or promises of change. He sells calculation, control and chaos. That's what makes him formidable.

Today, the world may be led by those in front of microphones. But it's shaped by those who move in silence. And right now, while the rest of the world leaders chase the spotlight, Vladimir Putin remains the man in the shadows and quite possibly, the man in charge of world politics who is really calling the shots.

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