India, Jan. 29 -- Washington President Donald Trump has said 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 that the transition from a stable Democratic administration to a disruptive Republican administration has been relatively smooth so far for New Delhi.

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 -- whether it addresses a fundamental deficit in the world view of a Trumpist ecosystem.

The five-fold testOne, does the visit send early signals of positivity about th...