The article is devoted to the analysis of Indian approaches to maritime spaces and the evolution of perception of the regional space by the Indian expert and political community. The author points out sub‑imperial stage, when India was seen as the dominant force in the region and the center of the sub‑empire inside the British Empire; the period of the Cold War, when India focused on strengthening its position in the international arena by building ties with African and Middle Eastern countries, while paying attention to maintaining the status quo in South Asia; and the period after the end of the Cold War, when India rethought its strategic priorities and developed original approach to the division of the regional space. The author offers his own version of the division of the space of the Indo‑Pacific region, based on the approach of the Indian scientist K.R. Singh, who proposed at one time the spatial division of the Indian Ocean region; this option allows to take into account the difference in the attitude of Indian political elites to various subregions and highlight the reasons why this difference arose.