Pakistan, Aug. 19 -- Small countries rarely get to dictate terms to their larger neighbours. When they try, it usually costs them, and they usually back down within a news cycle or two. Bangladesh's current standoff with India is worth watching for exactly this reason. Dhaka has told New Delhi that a prime ministerial visit is not something India gets to schedule on its own terms, and so far it does not look like Dhaka intends to blink first.

Bangladesh's foreign ministry has confirmed that officials in both capitals spent several weeks quietly discussing a possible visit by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to India, one widely expected around the BRICS summit in September. Then Dhaka broke from the usual script. Instead of letting that qui...