Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern feared the Blackcaps could be attacked before their tour opener against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, if the tour wasn't cancelled.
Before the first of three one-day internationals at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, the Blackcaps' first tour of Pakistan since 2003 was abandoned, after the NZ Government advised of a security threat.
Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has told of a conversation between Prime Minister Ardern, and Pakistan Prime Minister and former Cricket World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan.
Ahmed adds that, as far as Pakistan is concerned, there is no credible threat against the Blackcaps.
"He [Imran Khan] told her [Jacinda Ardern] that the law and order situation is the best in our country, and we give a guarantee that there is no security problem here, there is no security threat," Ahmed says.
"But the Prime Minister of New Zealand said that the issue is not the threat, but we have such information that when the team goes out, it can come under some attack, so they have unilaterally cancelled their tour."
Ahmed also says the cancellation is part of a "conspiracy", with test cricket only returning to Pakistan in 2019 - a decade after the Sri Lankan team was attacked, with six members of the side injured.
"It is their decision - we had deployed heavy security for the team. Pakistan is a peace promoter in the world.
"This tour was cancelled through a conspiracy. It is their problem and what they decide."
In the build-up to this tour, the NZ Government and NZ Cricket had carefully monitored the escalating unrest in neighbouring Afghanistan for any threat to the Blackcaps' safety.
Coincidentally, the Blackcaps' next assignment - the Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman - will see them face Pakistan on October 26 at Sharjah.
