When should one use "Indo-Pacific" vs "Asia-Pacific"?

Question

I have seen the two terms being used variously by different people.

I would assume that:

The "Asia Pacific" relates to that part of Asia which lies in the Pacific Ocean. It includes regions from Russia's Pacific coast to ASEAN and Oceania.
The "Indo-Pacific" is an integrated region that combines the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and the land masses that surround them. It is Asia-Pacific plus South Asia and regions like Maldives and Seychelles.

I'm not sure I've got this correct.
How are the two terms "Indo-Pacific" and "Asia-Pacific" defined? Are the Middle Eastern countries also supposed to be in Indo-Pacific region? Is there some think-tank/academic organization that has defined these terms? If not, what are the "commonly accepted" definitions of the terms?

update: If no generally accepted definitions are forthcoming, is it possible to at least address When should one use "Indo-Pacific" vs "Asia-Pacific"?

Wikipedia has articles on both terms. Both are "flexibly" defined, with core regions and outlying regions. There is no authorativie definition. Different organisations will have defined these differently. There is no commonly accepted definition. — James K, Nov 09 '22 at 21:34
For those already in Asia they are certainly not always freely interchangeable, cf. Perfecting Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy and Synergies Between Taiwan's New Southbound Policy and Biden's Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy — uhoh, Nov 10 '22 at 20:29

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 10 '22 at 20:54

They aren't "defined" in any authorative way. "Asia-Pacific" means that part of Asia with a Pacific coast, so certainly China, Indonesia, Phillipines. Many include Japan (but Japan is economically rather different, so some exclude it to get APEJ - Asia-Pacific excluding Japan). And some include the Russian pacific coastal region, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, Hawaii The West coast of America, Mexico, Chile...

You can take a narrow view, (the "tiger" economies of East Asia) or a broad view. APEC takes a broad view.

Similarly with Indo-Pacific. It means the countries that border the Indian or Pacific oceans. In the narrow view it includes India, Indo-China, Indonesia, and China. In the wide view it includes regions from the East coast of Africa to the West coast of America.

The EU uses a definition that includes East Africa, but excludes America.

The Middle East is economically distict from other parts of the Indo-Pacific region, and so is often treated separately.

You should use Indo-Pacific if you want to include India. And Asia-Pacific if you want to exclude her.

When should one use "Indo-Pacific" vs "Asia-Pacific"?

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