o The Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, IOR Island nations, Southwest Indian Ocean and East Coast of Africa littoral countries among many other nations and areas.

o The South China Sea, East China Sea and Western Pacific Ocean and their littoral

nations are included in the Indian Navy’s secondary priority areas.

By these, one expert has argued that India is trying to satisfy ASEAN which advocates for a larger Indian role in South China Sea on the one hand and on the other, content US-Australia- Japan, countries that want to see India as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean.