visit to Vietnam, on 2 September 2016, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered a new US$500 million line of credit for procurement of defence equipment. Vietnam and India signed an agreement on cooperation in United Nations peacekeeping operations in 2016. The Indian Army sent a mobile training team to Vietnam in December 2017 to conduct the first training sessions. In January 2016, India said it would establish a satellite tracking and imaging centre near Ho Chi Minh City for intelligence gathering to keep an eye on China. The centre was funded and built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at an estimated cost of $23 million. The facility enables ISRO to track and receive data from satellites launched from India, and gives Vietnam access to images from Indian earth observation satellites that cover China and the South China Sea. Vietnam had long sought access to advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies in the disputed region. The facility was activated in 2018, and is linked up with ISRO's other Southeast Asian stations in Biak, Indonesia and Brunei. Vietnam's Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau met Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on 22 August 2020 to brief him on the escalating situation in the South China Sea. The topic of the deployment of missiles was also reportedly discussed in virtual meeting between Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, and Deputy Prime Minister and Vietnam Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on 25 August 2020. Huynh Tam Sang of the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City noted, "India and Vietnam now find themselves at a geostrategic convergence. Both sides oppose China treating the South China Sea as its backyard and have interests in preserving peace and stability in the contested waters." In August 2021, the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet dispatched a task force of four warships on a two-month long operational deployment to Southeast Asia, the South China Sea and the Western Pacific Ocean. Two ships, guided-missile destroyer INS Ranvijay (D55) and anti-submarine corvette INS Kora (P61), arrived at Cam Ranh on 15 August. They conducted surface warfare exercises, weapon firing drills and helicopter operations with Vietnamese Navy frigate Ly Thai To (HQ-012). The task force also conducted bilateral exercises with the navies of the Philippines, Singapore (SIMBEX), Indonesia and Australia, before proceeding to Guam for Malabar 2021 with the Quad nations. Development assistance Since 1976, India has provided development assistance to Vietnam