India on Friday called off the meeting between the nuclear-armed neighbours’ foreign ministers, planned for the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this month.
India pulled the plug on the meeting just one day after saying it would go ahead.
The meeting in New York between Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and India’s Sushma Swaraj – on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly debate – was only confirmed on Thursday.
It came after Khan wrote to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi calling for a resumption of talks between the nuclear-armed foes.
High-level talks between India and Pakistan are rare.
Indian media described the meeting would have been the first in nearly three years.
The foreign ministry in New Delhi said its decision was to protest the killing of Indian security personnel in Kashmir and a Pakistani postage stamp that it said was “glorifying” an anti-India separatist who Indian forces killed in the disputed Himalayan region last year.
The foreign ministry blamed the about-face on recent actions that had revealed Pakistan’s “evil agenda” and Khan’s “true face”.
India did not specify which killings it was referring to in its statement, but earlier this week, an Indian border guard in the disputed territory of Kashmir was killed and his body mutilated.
Three policemen were then found dead on Friday after being abducted in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Pakistan also recently issued postage stamps of Burhan Wani, a charismatic Kashmiri militant commander killed by Indian troops in July 2016, whose death sparked a wave of violent protests in the territory.
In a statement from its foreign office, Pakistan said it had “nothing to do with” the deaths, accusing India of spreading “motivated and malicious propaganda”.
Pakistan described India’s reasons as excuses to enable it to avoid holding talks before national elections next year.
Khan, a former national cricket captain, followed up on Twitter.
“Disappointed at the arrogant and negative response by India to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue,” Khan wrote on his official account. “However, all my life I have come across small men occupying big offices who do not have the vision to see the larger picture.”
Resumption of talks have been stalled for years over the issue of Kashmir, claimed by both countries and ruled in part by each of them.
Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 over the region.
The Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government has insisted that Pakistan act against Islamist militants in Kashmir, saying that Pakistan still aids the groups from the portion of Kashmir it rules.
Pakistan denies aiding any attacks there and says it is fighting militant groups for its own security.
