Developments in inclusive education have focussed largely upon structures and initiatives implemented in the economically advantaged countries of the west including the USA and UK. International initiatives such as the Salamanca statement have promoted increasing movement towards the development of inclusive throughout the world. However the imposition of the western model on inclusion on socially and economically disadvantaged countries seems likely to result in failure. This paper explored the ways in which the strengths inherent in Indian education may provide a suitable basis upon which to build a national model of inclusion