LONDON (Agencies) The PPP government is considering creating a powerful new military post to ensure the head of the Pakistan Army, who has played a crucial role in strengthening ties with the US, retains his influence after his term expires in November, according to a Financial Times report. The proposal would give COAS General Ashfaq Kayani, who is waging Pakistans biggest campaign against Taliban, oversight of the air force and navy as well as preserve his control of land forces, according to a cabinet minister. The Obama Administration has come to rely on Gen Kayani as a key interlocutor as it struggles to deepen an alliance with nuclear-armed Pakistan that has far-reaching strategic implications but is weighed down by a complex legacy of mistrust. Defence Minister Ch Ahmed Mukhtar moved at the weekend to quash speculation that Gen Kayani might stay in his position as Chief of the Army Staff when his term expires in six months. Gen Kayani is neither being considered for an extension nor has he asked for one, Mukhtar said. But a cabinet minister told the Financial Times that a proposal is under discussion to create a new position as Chief of the Defence Staff that would allow Gen Kayani to broaden his control of the armed forces. An alternative proposal would see him appointed as the powerful Chairman of an existing Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, previously a largely ceremonial role. The discussions are right now to see exactly how the position can be made more powerful, with clout, and of course direct oversight of the army, navy and air force, the minister said. Critics say that retaining Gen Kayani in place beyond the three-year limit stipulated in the Constitution would undermine the militarys attempts to elevate institution-building over personalities and could trigger grumbling among a generation of officers awaiting turnover in the upper echelons. Possible successors to Gen Kayani include Lt-Gen Khalid Shameem Wyne, the Armys Chief of General Staff. Gen Kayanis position as head of the army makes him one of the most powerful men in the country, giving him command of the countrys nuclear arsenal as well as hundreds of thousands of troops, primarily configured to face arch-rival India.