The Indian landmass has a central location between East and West Asia. India is a southward extension of the Asian continent. The trans Indian Ocean routes which connect the countries of Europe in the West to the countries of East Asia provide a strategic central location to India. The Deccan peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean, thus helping India to establish close contact with West Asia, Africa and Europe from the Western coast and South-East and East Asia from the Eastern coast. No other country has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean as India has. Thus, India's eminent position in the Indian Ocean justifies the naming of an ocean after it.
