Washington, Feb. 12 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a frequent visitor to the United States. But his visit this week is comparable in significance to his first trip back as PM in 2014.

After being denied a visa for years, Modi established himself as a political rockstar with the Madison Square Garden show in New York, built a strong working relationship with Barack Obama in Washington DC, and sent a clear geopolitical signal about his commitment to the strategic partnership. And that set the stage for the last decade of the deepening ties across three US administrations.

This time, Modi is returning to America as an elder statesman. Few leaders in the western democratic world have been in power as long as Modi and no one has comparab...