This year, the US is celebrating 250 years since its Declaration of Independence. In October, India marked a very different but unusual milestone: 25 years since Narendra Modi first assumed executive office — first as chief minister (CM) of Gujarat and subsequently as Prime Minister (PM) of India.

Modi has spoken of his admiration for one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. In a conversation with former US president Barack Obama, he recalled Franklin’s life with particular admiration — how a person from an ordinary background could transform his circumstances through effort, learning and enterprise, becoming a politician, diplomat, social reformer and thinker.

Perhaps what attracted PM Modi was Franklin’s belief that circumstances could be changed through purpose, enterprise, and action.

There is a resonance here with PM Modi’s own journey from a modest background to the highest executive office in India.

I first met Modi in Gujarat in 2009. I was then Sri Lanka’s tourism minister, visiting Ahmedabad for the Vibrant Gujarat summit. Modi was the CM of Gujarat at the time. I spoke at a session he chaired. The following morning, he invited me to meet him and, during our discussion, asked me to speak at the conclusion of the valedictory session.

My speech reflected what I had observed during those few days. I referred to a remark he had made: “Dreams are not those which you see when you sleep. Dreams are........

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