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PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
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Yes, they claimed.
But as we knew then, and as they also know today, it was planned by the army chief himself, and was an operation to capture Indian territory, planned by the highest war planners in the land, including their corps commanders (who basically run Pakistan). And yet they did not dare to use their air force. Not because individual pilots were afraid to fight, but because in the overall picture, PAF stood no chance.
If the PAF had parity with the IAF, they would have used it. Like they did in their previous attempt to take Kashmir in 1965. Then too, similar story of "freedom fighters" was put out. But the PAF did not hesitate to attack Indian bases then.
Their objective was limited war to take a strategic mountain peek overlooking Indian supply lines to crucial forward areas.
They had no intention of escalating this to a full blown conflict. A secondary objective was to internationalize the Kashmir issue by claiming local insurgency, natives waging a war against an occupying force. They went to great lengths to conceal their involvement under such circumstances providing air support to their forces on the mountain was ruled out during the planning phase of the operation.