Am I correct in my understanding that the Indian people, as a race, are considered "Asian".

Presuming I have that correct can some explain to me why, the indian heritage and culture to my foreign eyes seems very distinct from other Asian cultures.

Is it a term Indians themselves use to describe themselves? If so do Indians feel a closer tie to other Asian countries than they do say, Pakistan? I assume of course Pakistanis dont describe themselves as Asian...

@freemo Geographically speaking, we are Asians. But I have always wondered why we are not addressed as 'Asians' as much others (Chinese, Koreans etc). So I guess we are just 'Indians'
Like @_lunawinters mentioned, more than 150 languages are spoken (22 official), thousands, if not lakhs of different communities following different customs are present.
Not weird for a country with 1.3 BILLION population.

@Karthikdeva 22? Wasn't Bhojpuri included? Or are they still asking for it?

@_lunawinters @Karthikdeva not included yet One of the reason being, if they start including dialects of Hindi, similar demands will prop up from other regional dialects to be included as well.