Few thoughts:
1) For years both countries were content to contain the theatre and spectrum of conflict to performative shelling along the LOC producing limited casualties. Some press releases and the choreographed WWEesque drama would end before you knew it began. Direct aerial warfare was unthinkable. Modi's actions in 2019 and this week means all bets are off.
It's easy to talk a big game but are the people who were screaming for war now prepared to accept mass casualty air strikes and/or indiscriminate shelling as part of a standard cycle of response and counter response after every terrorist incident or border skirmish with all the risks of miscalculation ? If so, do you think that'll make de-escalating future confrontations easier ?
2) Any self-respecting nation would've responded to India's airstrikes. I'm amazed some Indians are surprised that Pakistan simply didn't take the killings of dozens of its citizens lying down. Pakistan is polarised politically but like any nation rallies amidst an external threat. The state wouldn't have been spared had it failed to give an appropriate response.
3) Many Indians wrongly assume Pakistanis are completely aligned with the goals and strategies of its military establishment. False. While Pakistanis express rhetorical support for Kashmiri freedom (however you wish to define that), most are exhausted by Pakistani soil being used as a playing field for its generals and the various shadow armies they sponsor. There's little love for Hafiz Saeed or people of his ilk who've butchered countless Pakistanis. Most support peace with India - and there'd be fewer domestic political constraints to engaging with India than there would be in an increasingly radicalised India if a government wished to engage with Pakistan.
4) Modi is scarcely different to likes of Trump and Netanyahu who make unsubstantiated declarations of victory or impulsive, grandiose announcements with little planning or foresight. One example is
demonetisation which was sprung on the nation with no consultation with advisors or Cabinet. Another is COVID. For years Modi's administrative acumen was touted by his fans yet
horribly mishandled India's biggest crisis outside wartime causing untold deaths.
Balakot is another example where GOI bragging about dismantling terrorist infrastructure had
no basis in reality. Soon after he claimed had India possessed Rafale jets the outcome would've different (implicitly admitting IAF's performance was underwhelming). I'm no military expert and will defer to
@the Great Khan on this but what I've read recently - air warfare is
far more complex than some COD-esque notion of an epic aircraft vs aircraft battle and depends on tactics, ground intelligence, geography etc not just technology.
Currently it's impossible amidst the fog of war and the avalanche of rubbish on social media to make a proper assessment, but there won't be any winners from this. The sooner both government find an off-ramp the better.