Yep you have been consistent from day one
AND btw this sort of info you cannot find on the internet
There are some indication though that the Indians got slapped more than we know of because they have crawled back from the stone they came out of. For the Indians it was a golden opportunity to retaliate and show Pakistan "who is the big brother here...". But they didn´t and that tells something.
Lets for a moment go down that road with 8 kills Tall guy. And bare with me because i need to clarify some background before i go for what consequences this claim actually mean. It has fare reaching consequences - more than one may imagine.
Often people do not realize the background and psyche of military personnel. In the simplistic world (and one may say to simple or naive) the men and women in military train to fight, injure and kill the enemy / adversary. They know deep down that they can also be killed in that fight. And they are ready to do that for what ever cause they have - but they do it also knowing that the military will take care of them and their family if they get killed or prisoner of war. My understanding is that soldiers are absolute convinced that the state / military will move heaven and earth to get them back if they ever become POW or take care of their family if they get killed. What happens if they see that did not happen?? If the soldier observe that the state did not do everything it could to get your colleague back or did not take care of the family of the fallen soldier? Morale go diving to the bottom....
So coming back to the 8 kill. Even if this knowledge is not public the air force would know, the men and women in the Indian Air Force would know. And if the airmen know - not much time would go before every men and women in the the military wings (air force, army and navy) would know. People talk and they talk a lot. Information like the 8 kills cannot be hidden - maybe you will not talk about it in public, but you will certainly talk about it with your comrade, unit, fellow military personnel and so on... It will affect the morale in the military more negatively than one can imagine: You are observing the pilots did what they where asked to do - they went on a mission and defended their motherland. Some them came back, but regardless of the reason the crew of the 8 aircraft are either missing in action, POW or killed in action, AND THE STATE IS NOT DOING ANYTHING TO GET THEM BACK!!! This break the trust between the state and the soldiers and right there the loyalty of your military personnel went down the drain... The crack in the ranks will start to be visible and come out in the open where personnel would want justice for their comrades.
And frankly speaking we haven´t seen any whistle blower...