Exchanges of mass and salt between the mixed layers in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are examined in a model of the Indian Ocean using passive tracers as a tool to map the pathways. Inflow of high salinity water from the Arabian Sea into the Bay of Bengal is significant and occurs after the mature phase of the southwest monsoon. Freshwater transport out of the Bay of Bengal is southward throughout the year along the eastern boundary of the Indian Ocean. Low salinity water transport into the Arabian Sea occurs in the Somali Current during the southwest monsoon, closing a clockwise path of water mass transport. Only a small fraction of low salinity water is advected into the eastern Arabian Sea from the Bay of Bengal. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union