Yes. It does not "belongs" to the west, but has many similarities, parallels and common roots with the west. What I mean is, for westerners, Indic culture and literature look like a variations of western ideas.
For example, Indic and and Western religions have similarities in the temples, ways of pray, traditions like the procesions, etc. Hinduism has a rich literature similar to biblical writing. Budism has many similarities with Christianism, even in rituals. etc.
If we search into the past, certain ideas and customs of the "Aryan" look very similar to the ones of the "Barbarian" tribes of Northern Europe.
And we know that contact between India and the West has been continue since, at least, 4th century BC. It is also known that Greece arts, science and math influenced India and that at its time India teach the west its own inventions, and games like Chess.
By comparison, Taoism, tonal languages, ideographic writing and the relative skepticism of the East Asian people is completelly allien to the Westerners. East Asia seem to me a totally independent home grown civilization. India seems to be a parallel "brother" civilization of the west.
Pinguin
Edited by pinguin - 07-Oct-2006 at 10:11