Pakistani newspaper The News International carried a startling story today, saying that Indian foreign secretary S. Jaishankar had told the German ambassador that Indian army’s surgical strike across the Line of Control was a bluff, reports The Times of India. Needless to say, it drew a swift rebuttal from India, with MEA spokesperson Vikas Swaroop issuing a statement that called the report “concocted and baseless”. Pakistan has maintained all along that no surgical strike took place at all. This story bolsters the narrative of the government, which has been considerably embarrassed after a report in Dawn claimed that there was a rift between it and the army over reining in terrorists. Clearly, some sections of the Pakistani media feel their government needs their support at this point!