notorious_eagle
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
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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.
Although Oscar has done an excellent job answering all the queries, let me answer this.
First of all, PAF was never part of the plan because the Generals wanted the glory for themselves. PA General Staff did not even bother to show the PAF their plans as the Khakis did not consider the PAF boys their intellectual equal. PAF till the last minute had no idea what PA was planning, all they had were vague ideas and would be brushed aside by the Generals upon inquiries.
The reason why PAF was not used, as this would have raised up the level of confrontation and at no point did the IAF intrude PAF's airspace and engaged them. You are right, PAF at the time would have struggled against the IAF in the Indian air space but not so in the Pakistani border. A defensive war PAF would have happily fought, and would have caused a lot of attrition for the Indians. Anyways, after Kargil relations between the PA and PAF fell to an all time low. It was only under General Kiyani and AVM Suleman that relations have improved and the new synergy achieved between both these forces is simply outstanding.