India, Jan. 28 -- President Donald Trump has announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Washington DC in February. In symbolic terms, the timing of the visit is the message. It speaks to India's importance and bipartisan links in the US that Modi was among Joe Biden's last guests and will be among Trump's first guests.

In tangible terms, the visit should be judged on five parameters of how it meets the current moment in global geopolitics. In terms of the real political impact, it should be judged on a sixth parameter of whether it addresses a fundamental deficit in the worldview of the Trumpist ecosystem about international partnerships in general but India's role and value in particular.

The five-fold test

One, does the v...