Bangladesh, Feb. 16 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often spoken of building “people-to-people” bridges with Bangladesh. It is a noble phrase. But diplomacy, like politics, eventually runs into arithmetic. For more than a decade, New Delhi invested heavily (politically, diplomatically, even emotionally) in its partnership with Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League. But, in Bangladeshs 13th parliamentary election, the people delivered a clear mandate to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). That democratic verdict should matter in New Delhi. If India is serious about engaging the people of Bangladesh, it must engage the party they have chosen to govern them.

There is no mystery about who now dominates Bangladeshs political ...