May 25 was not about any military victory or destruction but display of intent and testing the limits of the nuclear deterrence. India indicated that it would not hesitate to cross again (like 2019), nuclear or no nuclear.
It was foolish to assume that you attack a country with professional defence forces and then say - Ok ok. Let’s be good now. That was as stupid as it could get. Must be a brain fade moment when this was thought out, that too with 2019 precedence as an evidence, that it would fail. Rafale gave them overconfidence. Poor trait for military leaders.
However, stupid or smart they were, they definitely didn’t want a full fledged war. Because that can go south in many ways.
I disagree with this. One can control a start but end is not in any body’s hand. Even on the 10th May, had Pakistan said that they too want some satellite pictures before a ceasefire, then it could have gone into something big. One can control the firing of the first bullet. Nothing after that.
Because my stupid people were expecting that they would do a precise attack and not allow it to escalate any further. There was no appetite for a full war. Didn’t turn out as they had expected and they had to go upto Brahmos, Scalp etc when it cooled down.
Had the premise been any more, the initial attack would have been more military in nature. However, it was more of a symbolic one against non-military targets.
They still offered a ceasefire after 7th May after initial strike. Ok, ok, let’s calm down was conveyed but turned down by Munir and “time and place of own choosing” was conveyed.
My point is that, this “time and place of choosing” wasn’t as stellar as it was assumed and as it is claimed by majority of Pak posters. BuM didn’t really produce the kind of results that got Munir one extra star.
Had a ceasefire been accepted on the 7th, imagine the Indian situation. Lost four fighters and attacked 11 terrorists targets. Worst possible optics.
Munir allowed Indian side to redeem a little by giving a chance to attack on 10th and getting huge narrative points. Those satellite images aren’t going anywhere, any time soon.
While Munir didn’t gain anything other than “I am telling you bro” kind of results. Very few people are asking - Kiya kya aapne during “place and time of own choosing”.
