East Asia has aided in Bangladesh's efficiency of distributing natural gas to the Asia Pacific. Its outlying islands (the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) and, most importantly, major ports such as Port of Chittagong, Mongla, Matarbari Port, Paradip Kolkata, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, and Tuticorin, along its coast with the Bay of Bengal added to its importance. China has recently made efforts to project influence into the region through tie-ups with Bangladesh and Myanmar. The United States has held major exercises with Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and recently India. The largest ever wargame in Bay of Bengal, known as Malabar 2007, was held in 2007 and naval warships from the United States, India, Singapore, Japan and Australia took part. Large deposits of natural gas in the areas within Bangladesh's sea zone incited a serious urgency by India and Myanmar into a territorial dispute. Disputes over rights of some oil and gas blocks have caused brief diplomatic spats between Myanmar and India with Bangladesh. The disputed maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar resulted in military tensions in 2008 and 2009. The maritime dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar settled in 2012 through the judgement of ITLOS.In 2014, the dispute between India and Bangladesh was also settled in which the UN tribunal awarded Bangladesh 19,467 sq. km of the 25,602 sq. km sea area of the Bay of Bengal. Religious importance The Bay of Bengal in the stretch of Swargadwar, the gateway to heaven in Sanskrit, in the Indian town of Puri is considered holy by Hindus. The Samudra arati is a daily tradition started by the present Shankaracharya of Puri 9 years ago to honour the sacred sea. The daily practise includes prayer and fire offering to the sea at Swargadwar in Puri by disciples of the Govardhana matha of the Shankaracharya. On Paush Purnima of every year the Shankaracharya himself comes out to offer prayers to the sea. Key features Beaches Islands The islands in the bay are numerous, including the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands. The Cheduba group of islands, in the north-east, off the Burmese coast, are remarkable for a chain of mud volcanoes, which are occasionally active. Great Andaman is the main archipelago or island group of the Andaman Islands, whereas Ritchie's Archipelago consists of smaller islands. Only 37, or 6.5%, of the 572 islands and islets of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are inhabited. Rivers Many major rivers of India