ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan ruled out the possibility of resuming trade with India "under present circumstances" after participating in a consultative session of the cabinet on the subject with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and top officials of the country's foreign office, local media reported on Friday.

Pakistan's cabinet on Thursday put off allowing imports of cotton and sugar from neighboring India until New Delhi revised a 2019 decision to revoke the special autonomy of the disputed Kashmir region.

Just a day earlier, on Wednesday, Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had given the go-ahead for the imports, which would have ended a two-year ban on trade between the nuclear-armed rivals.

According to the local media, the foreign ministry gave a briefing to the participants of Friday's meeting over the issue after which the prime minister dismissed the idea of resuming commercial activities with his country's eastern neighbor.

Quoting unnamed sources, Pakistan's Geo News claimed that Khan was concerned that trade with India would give a wrong signal to the world that Pakistan was neglecting the people of Kashmir.

"The source revealed that PM Imran Khan has categorically said relations between Pakistan and India cannot return to normal unless Kashmiris are given the right to self-determination by India," reported the media outlet.

Later in the day, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Security Moeed Yusuf appeared on a television talk show and said that the ECC had only focused on the "commercial dimension" of the issue since it was not its job to make political decisions.

He added the cabinet was the supreme body that took such decisions after examining an issue from different angles.