Why the IAF did not shoot down the airplanes? well, u cannot shoot down an airplane just like that. you first make contact and try and get the aircraft to land and find out why they are in that space. Until you confirm this, you cannot shoot.
I think you should listen to your Chief of the Air Staff...
You take all the above steps when target is a slow speed , or large in size or if you have any doubt about its identity or you just want to scare the hell out of the poor guy with your belly unedrload of missiles.....
BUT you bypass all these steps once its confirmed that intruder is hostile , high speed, fighter size ( ask controllers how they confirm it ) and either flying parallel to IB or making small incursions...BTW , an aircraft just doesnt suddenly appears on the radar scope out of nowhere ( unless its an stealth) , by monitoring its track record and target history, it can be deduced that from where and when did it get airborne or what type of profile its been flying since the radar picked it.....
As IAFs Air Chief said that, '''..we know how these intrusions took place, and why they happened. so I would assume that ( as per procedure) PAF had already informed IAF before undertaking the missions close to border . And if at all the PAF fighters did bust the IB then IAF should have got them, instead of making fuss in the media now...so typical.....
Laws/rules and fighter pilots dont mix very well..
.....allover the world, they think that they are above every law....may it be domestic, national or international...
