Did they? wasn't it the same signal India tried to send during Balakot? That we are only attacking terrorists, what did PAF do? they attempted to bomb Indian Millitary. One can understand the intent & signaling at Balatkot as this is the first instance in decades of proxy war that India used Air power to attack inside enemy territory when not at war.
I don't understand the need to send the same message & expect anything different. They were going to respond militarily is given. IAF must have been given clear instructions to engage if PAF attempted an interception.
Dude you think people in power world over get their information from global media? What does their intelligence and military do then? You know competent militaries and govt world over will study Operation Sindoor and try to find out the good tactics for themselves, just like they would be doing with Ukraine-Russia and current Iran-Israel conflicts. You think they won't know how the equations in the subcontinent have changed with this attack with India attacking Paki air bases with impunity, then defending against every Paki attack and then declaring that we will attack Paki military directly from now on in response to any terrorist attack? Govt don't work like "common folks", like just pick up the current media narrative. They analyse everything and have dedicated people to provide information for that.
As to why govt didn't allow IAF to hit PAF in first instance, it seems like a lot of people here don't understand that govt had hoped that after bombing of terrorist camps, Pakis would just cope with it. If you would have heard the CDS speak about how wars hamper economic growth, you would have known that the current govt does not want any prolonged war until India's growth story plateaus. We will not go to any war until we have achieved our potential economic status. This is the current govt policy. Every action and decision during Operation Sindoor was in support of this policy.
Because Pakistan will never accept that they are terrorists, they will claim all of them are civillians & play victim. This is the version most Pakistani's will be exposed to, any air victory will be used to claim a successful response.
Pakistan is banking on a short war, in a short war pakistan can't be clearly defeated militarily like 71 or even kargil. So a short war is half based on narrative, Indian political leadership & IAF needs to realize this the next time they get into this. Modi's claim of not distinguishing between Pak military & terrorists should be put into action.
Pakis can claim all the victory they want. No one cares. As I said, the people in Paki land who matter, the military and govt, know what happened to them during the short conflict and what would have happened if there was no ceasefire. And no, we would not be going for any long war against Pakis and I have explained the reason above.
And in fact, we all should cherish Paki delusions. How does it matter for us if common Paki thinks that their military won, even without any evidence of damage due to Operation Chaddi Banyan? If they think that objectives of wars are shooting down jets, let them live in their halucinations. A self critical and competent foe is much more dangerous than one living in grand delusions. It was Paki delusion of 1 momin = 10 baniya which led to their defeat in 1965 war. If you want, you should read Hussain Haqqani's "Pakistan between mosque and military" to understand Paki psyche. Their delusion stems a lot from their perceived "religious superiority".
You are not going to change what a common Paki thinks unless you inflict 1971 war like defeat. Heck, Pakis started the 1965 war with the objective of capturing Kashmir, India defended and achieved its objective and still the Pakis think they won the 1965 war. This is despite them having to defend Lahore. What did it do? Pakis basked in their glory, didn't improve like we did after our 1962 defeat. Consequently lost haf of their country in 1971. Let Pakis bask in their glory. A delusional foe on one side is much better for us, with the Chinese breathing on our neck on the other side.
Note : During every war with Pakis, India's FA losses have exceeded Pakis. Did it mean that they win? No. This is because in every conflict, IAF had flown much more sorties than Pakis and most of these were risky sorties, attacking inside Paki land. Of course we would lose more aircraft. Does it matter? It does only if a loss was due to mistake, which needs to be corrected, otherwise losses are part and parcel of war. But despite losses we achieved all our objectives. And that is what matters.
