You do forget that I am a novice like a lot of others here. I am not a senior member, yet.
Have you ever met any of the diplomats? I wasnt talking about only Indian or Pakistani diplomats! You should see how huge their egos are!
Given the situation Pakistan finds itself in today, I seriously doubt your Govt or Army can really do anything about the public pressure. They do realize that as a country Pakistan might end up losing a lot in the short term as well as in the long term and may be ignored on the world stage for years to come. You have to take into account the present geopolitical scenarios, which I believe the Pak army and govt are doing right now. I do believe if a push comes to shove, the Pak Army will remain silent in under remendous international pressure and for Pakistan's own interests, though they may demand their 'pound of flesh' in shooting down a couple of IAF birds, which the IAF can easily absorb. A full fledged war would be catastrophic to Pakistan, if not to India.
71 wasnt the only loss of face. You do so conviniently forget the '84 Siachen loss and various attempts to recapture Siachen subsequently - one SSG raid was infact planned and executed by Musharaff himself - I believe in '87? You forget kargil? There may be many other instances which are not out in public domain.
I did say there will be belligerent tones on both sides of the border, but behind closed doors, there will be an unprecedented level of co-operation - diplomatic and may be even militarily! Look at the big picture, my friend.
Any skirmish, if any, will not go nuclear. You are right, your nuclear threshold is not that low. There is a reason as to why!
India would be vary about any missile launched by Pakistan during a skirmish - what with your first use policy. Any missile launched by Pakistan will be assumed to be a nuclear strike, even if its a conventional warhead. This will bring in massive Indian nuclear retaliation - a policy to deny a second strike capability. Either Pakistan would have to use a saturated nuclear missile attack first time around or not use its missiles altogether and try to contain a possible conflict to a small area.
. I seriously dont see much use of Pakistani missile arsenal in a conflict with India, except if it wants to lob a few nuclear warheads this side of the border. That would also mean world condemnation and severe consequences for Pakistan.
The ball's in your court, as they say.