What PAF did was already perfect, even with two shot down and local air superiority achieved, IAF was sidelined by their own leadership later. Indians moved to launch BrahMos strikes on us, they were to target our port infrastructure in the South. We would not have a the ability to respond without significantly escalating.
Indians were apparently already very recklessly shunning the usual lines of communication and de-escelation that day. With one abhinandan captured, the other jet they lost was effectively covered up. More losses could not been hidden, they would be then very strongly compelled to escalate. To impel the gravity of the situation, the next morning they had BrahMos and we had Shaheen SSMs ready to go at one another. Indians at every stage behaved recklessly, from the initial strike in Balakot, to their intended method of escalation. We did the opposite and it paid off.
