What are the prospects for launches from underground silos? The subterranean activity would be harder to spot. India opted to use the Brahmos bluff because Pakistan had taken aim at its military installations. Perhaps Indians were not comfortable in pitching IAF against PAF again until the glaring deficiencies that had been exposed would stand addressed, that is why they upped the ante threatening with missile strikes.
I don't think India could afford (diplomatically) to launch all-out missile strikes in nuclearised South Asia post a future Pulawama-esque attack. If it does, it would target select installations of PA/PAF. Retaliation would be certain from Pakistan given its missile stockpiles would be intact.
What do you have in mind when you say an all-out boom? Any attack against installations holding strategic delivery systems would immediately force use it or lose it posture on Pakistani strategic forces. I hope we have planned for this eventuality and the delivery systems are spread all over the country so the enemy cannot escape a counter strike which is necessary to maintain deterrence vis a vis surprise strikes.
They have built a few for Prithvis and an experimental one for the Shaurya (or just a test site) near the northern border but wont do so for the Brahmos because its strength lies in its shoot & scoot capability to maximize the multiple directions it can fire from.
However, its when they move out of their storage facilities the majority of whose lists are both exchanged and also discovered by some of the highest intelligence efforts when you can call that bluff right there and then.
All out attack means key Pakistani non-nuclear related strategic sites incl C4I nodes, radars, airfield facilities and other command structures.
Who ever gets nuked first is at extreme disadvantage. Imagine if rawalpindi gets nuked. It could effect response time from Pakistan.
Not really - there are redundant response doctrines that all units know in case certain measures happen. India is not going to attack one or two sites with nuclear weapons and will either go all out strike or nothing. If the try with one city as soon as confirmation occurs there are two weapons heading for dehli and an Indian nuclear base. They can attack with 3 and Pakistan will send 5 and so on.
Except Allah, nothing - No ABM, no Energy based Area defense or otherwise can save India from experiencing utter devastation in 300+ targets.
The loss of life, the loss of infrastructure and natural environment/resources(fresh water sources, key agro areas) will make death seem like a better option for whoever remains in India. Sure, Pakistanis will face the same but because of the more dense population concentration in the major cities along with having 1/5th the population there is going to be quicker demises in Pakistan and few remaining after the initial month to suffer. Meanwhile, the 1.2 billion in India will lose a lot more and suffer a LOT more.
Moreover, India and Pakistan are NOT first world nations like the US or even USSR with detailed plans for population rehabilitation and rebuilding. The United States can lose all its urban areas and still have plenty of land available for a somewhat livable existence - India has land but the careful selection of targets means that natural resources to make that land survivable by more than a few hundred thousand will be irradiated and inhospitable.
Finally, the impact of such a conflict doesn't just impact the two countries - All the immediate neighbors especially Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal moving outwards to Far east and upwards to Central Asia and to a degree the middle east will be severely impacted. All of these countries will protect their interests too of not wanting such a holocaust to occur.
Hence, the deterrent and the focus on 5th gen socio-economic warfare by India.