During the 1970s and 1980s, Pandit undertook several visits to the island, sometimes as an "expert advisor" in tour parties including dignitaries who wished to encounter an aboriginal tribe. Beginning in 1981, he regularly led official expeditions with the purpose of establishing friendly contact. Many of these got a friendly reception, with hoards of gifts left for them, but some ended in violent encounters, which were mostly suppressed. Some of the expeditions (1987, 1992, et al.) were entirely documented on film. Sometimes the Sentinelese waved and sometimes they turned their backs and assumed a "defecating" posture, which Pandit took as a sign of their not being welcome. On some occasions, they rushed out of the jungle to take the gifts but then attacked the party with arrows. Other obscene gestures in response to contact parties, such as swaying of penises, have been noted. On some of his visits, Pandit brought some Onge to the island to try to communicate with the Sentinelese, but the attempts were usually futile and Pandit reported one instance of angering the Sentinelese.