The last time Nawaz Sharif traveled to Washington as Pakistan’s prime minister, in 1999, he was just months away from being overthrown in a coup that left him in exile and his country under military rule for more than a decade.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Sharif returns here for an official visit in a far more secure position. He was elected in May in Pakistan’s first-ever transfer of power from one civilian government to another, his party holds a firm parliamentary majority, and the military has at least nominally moved away from politics.