Over the course of the 1990s, the question of the Indian state's relationship to the diaspora, formerly treated as more or less settled, once again came to the forefront of policy debates. Developments within diaspora communities, particularly in the United States, served to facilitate this process. Chief among them was the creation of the 'Global Organization of People of Indian Origin' (GOPIO) in 1989, and the establishment of the India Caucuses within the US Congress in 1993. While the former served to provide a semblance of coherence to the interests of a variegated community, the latter suggested the potential for at least a section among the Indian diaspora to be conscious political actors in their adopted homeland. GOPIO members, for instance, kept alive the question of institutional recognition of the special place of the diaspora by proposing the idea of a 'Person of Indian Origin' card in their meetings with Indian government representatives in the mid-1990s. Within the United States, politically active lobbyists of Indian origin became de facto spokespersons for the then Indian government, particularly in the aftermath of the nuclear tests of 1998. The support of these groups in mitigating the post-tests economic sanctions imposed by the United States, along with their enthusiastic response to the 'Resurgent India' bonds issued by the Indian government in the immediate aftermath of the nuclear tests, was cited as an important indication of the continued commitment of the diaspora to the homeland, a commitment that the Indian government felt needed official recognition in the new millennium.