WASHINGTON: The United States said on Thursday that it was carefully monitoring the situation at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, which seemed moving towards a peaceful resolution.

At a news briefing in Washington, State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki once again urged the government and the protesters to show restraint and avoid any step that could further deteriorate an already tense situation.

Also read: No extra-constitutional changes in Pakistan acceptable: US

“We have been carefully monitoring the demonstrations in Islamabad. We continue to urge all sides to refrain from violence, exercise restraint, respect the rule of law,” Ms Psaki said.

She also noted that “peaceful protests and freedom of expression” were “important aspects of democracy” but they should be exercised with restraint.

Responding to a question on cross-border firing between India and Pakistan, the US official asked the two nuclear-armed countries to resolve their differences through negotiations.

“We encourage dialogue between the two countries,” she said.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2014