The United States has said it is closely monitoring the developments in the case against Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.

"We continue to monitor closely developments in the case against him. We have expressed for some time our concern that these cases may represent a misuse of Bangladesh's labour laws to harass and intimidate Dr Yunus," said Mathew Miller, spokesperson for the US Department of State during a regular briefing yesterday.

"As a key economic partner to Bangladesh, we also worry that perceived misuse of labour and anti-corruption laws could raise questions about rule of law and dissuade future foreign direct investment," Miller said while replying to a question.

When asked about the visits of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to China and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia at the same time, Miller said, "With respect to the two visits, I've already spoken to the Modi visit. I don't have anything to add to what I said. And with respect to the visit to China, look, we understand that countries engage with China. We engage with China. The secretary has made two trips to China himself, so I don't have any further comment on it."