Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that going ahead with the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express was a befitting reply to the terrorists who perpetrated the Pulwama attacks in which 40 CRPF jawans lost their lives.

He said the decision to continue with the flagging off programme was inspired by the way Mumbai reacted by showing their resilience in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks. Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.