Even as rumours were rife that Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar would be shown the door for his remarks yesterday, our sources in Delhi tell us that Jaishankar will in fact get a year's extension in tenure.


Yesterday, Jaishankar contradicted Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar when he told the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs that India had carried out strikes earlier.  "The Army had carried out target-specific, limited-calibre, counter-terrorist operations across the LoC in the past too but this is the first time the government has gone public about it, the parliamentary panel was told on Tuesday.


The PMO has initiatied a file to put into effect the year's extension on the lines of the Chairman Railway Board AK Mittal who was given a two-year extension for his splendid performance.


We can also tell you that in government circles the news of Jaishankar's extension has been circulating after Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha today is believed to have been alerted by the PMO to process the FS's extension and bring it up before the Appointments committe of the Cabinet.

Jaishankar is due to superannuate on the last working day in December 2016.