LILLE, France — A migration dispute between Britain and France further intensified on Friday, as France canceled a high-profile meeting with the British side in the wake of a tragedy in the English Channel that left at least 27 migrants dead on Wednesday.

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       The interior ministers of France, Britain, and several other European countries were set to meet in Calais on Sunday to discuss joint efforts to combat human trafficking in the region, after France called for more support from its neighbors.

       But by Friday morning, the British interior minister, Priti Patel, was no longer welcome in France.

       French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on French television that France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had uninvited his British counterpart. Attal cited a letter by the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to French President Emmanuel Macron that had been published on Thursday night.

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       In the letter, Johnson called for the establishment of “joint patrols” by Britain and France or by “private security contractors.” Johnson also demanded a pact that would allow migrants to be deported back to France.

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       Johnson said that “in particular, I welcome the fact that the Home Secretary will be invited to Calais this Sunday, to meet her counterparts from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.” He added that he would be willing to “upgrade this meeting to a Leaders’ Level Summit.”

       While confirming that France had canceled the British participation, French government spokesman Attal called the letter “bereft of substance” and “totally inappropriate in terms of form” on Friday morning.

       In an unusual move, Johnson had made the letter public by posting it on his Twitter feed.

       Britain’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC on Friday that Johnson’s proposal had been made “in good faith” he hoped that France would reconsider retracting the invitation.

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       “The proposal was made in good faith. I can assure our French friends of that and I hope that they will reconsider meeting up to discuss it,” he said.

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       Previous British proposals of joint patrols had raised concerns in France over sovereignty and Attal said the letter did not reflect what Macron and Johnson discussed when they had spoken on the phone on Wednesday night, shortly after the incident in the English Channel.

       After their call, Downing Street said that Macron and Johnson agreed to step up Anglo-French cooperation. But the French readout was less optimistic, with the élysée presidential palace saying that Macron had urged Britain to “refrain from exploiting a dramatic situation for political purposes.”

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       Britain and France have both argued that they share the same goal — curbing illegal migration and human trafficking in the English Channel — but their ideas on how to achieve that aim differ widely.

       France has said it will expand sea monitoring in the region following Wednesday’s incident, which cost the lives of 17 men, seven women and three presumed minors. But to combat human trafficking, French officials say, other nations need to step up their support.

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       Charities and aid agencies on both sides of the channel have long called on the British government to open safe routes to the country for asylum seekers. Currently, the migrants who are in France can apply for asylum in Britain only if they are physically there — meaning they have to take deadly risks in rickety boats with traffickers.

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       The French government additionally accuses Britain of a lack of action against traffickers as well as businesses that employ undocumented migrants.

       But in a radio interview on Thursday, interior minister Darmanin also named Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany as countries that are also linked to trafficking networks, adding that one of five people suspected as traffickers involved in Wednesday’s crossing attempt had bought boats in Germany. The five were among more than 1,500 smugglers the French government says it has caught in the region since the beginning of the year.

       Adam reported from London.

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