Goa: StartUp20 Engagement Group delegates condole Odisha train tragedy

The two-day meeting of the StartUp20 Engagement Group, part of India's G20 presidency, culminated in Goa on Sunday with delegates expressing solidarity with victims of the Odisha train accident.

At least 288 people were killed and more than 1,100 injured in the crash involving Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train took place on Friday evening near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha's Balasore district.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the StartUp20 Engagement Group meeting in Goa, Ashish Sinha, joint secretary, Union Ministry of External Affairs, said the meeting took place in a sombre environment because of the train accident on Friday.

All the delegations expressed condolences to the victims, their families and also wished a speedy recovery to the injured people, he said.

He said there is a norm in the G20 meetings that foreign delegates are given an introduction about the local culture, for which programmes are scheduled.

There was a consensus over the cancellation of cultural programmes. There was a consensus that in our thoughts and prayers, we should be with the victims and also those who are struggling, Sinha said.

This was the third meeting of the Startup20 Engagement Group.

Startup20 serves as a prime opportunity to foster collaboration, exchange ideas, and shape the future of start ups and entrepreneurship on a global scale.

It is an official engagement group, established under India's G20 presidency. It acts as a dialogue forum with the G20 nations startup ecosystem stakeholders and intends to represent the startup ecosystem of the G20 nations to raise the macroeconomic concerns and challenges faced by the startup ecosystem players in these nations.