This issue never came to my mind because maybe I haven't met a single person who can classify themselves as a strict vegetarian or 'vegan', but after reading this post i can surely conclude that in india dairy products are always coined for "Pure Vegetarian" and most preferred veg dishes are "Paneer Recipes" in almost all of the restaurants. As dairy products , eggs, honey, etc. are taken from living creatures, they are classified as vegetarian but they are far to be considered as "pure-veg" recipe.
RE: Vegetarianism is considered near to veganism but still very far in India.