I believe the reason was diplomacy. I believe MEA wanted to show that India is not invading or going on a war with Pakistan but was only punishing terrorists. This was visible in all the narrative built before the attack.
So, they chose a strike package which they believed was something that can be hidden and be used as an attack launching platform. Flying a AWACS signals readiness for air combat. I think a lot of this comes from their past experience of 2019, where they were able to do a strike (successful or failed is another question altogether) while keeping their strike aircrafts safe (they key "lesson" they took).
After strike, their entire message was on "non-escalatory, proportional and not targetting military of Pakistan". Which shows what kind of narrative they were going for.
India has a habit of mixing diplomacy in war fighting, for often rather stupid results.