Historically, Hawaii has played a vital role in U.S. foreign affairs. Thanks to its strategic location, and through institutions like the East-West Center, Daniel K. Inouye Center for Security Studies and Indo-Pacific Command, Hawaii has hosted high-level dialogues between leaders and experts from Japan, Korea, Australia, the Pacific Islands and more.

In return, Hawaii’s local economy has enjoyed the benefits of international — often high-profile — visitors.

U.S. foreign policy priorities are changing, but not in a way that will diminish Hawaii’s importance. With the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (“Quad”) — consisting of Japan, Australia, the U.S. and India — becoming a mainstay of U.S. Indo-Pacific policy, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in April visited Oahu to meet with U.S. INDOPACOM.

Furthermore, that same month, the White House referred to India as the U.S.’ most important relationship. With the Quad expanding in scope and mission, India’s participation in discussion and dialogue will increase, including in Hawaii.

In fact, Hawaii could be the gateway to this crucial relationship, signified not just by the recent visit of the defense minister, but also RIMPAC: The exercises that began on June 29 feature Quad and other allied nations. RIMPAC, which is estimated to have brought in excess of $50 million to Hawaii’s economy when it was held in the pre-COVID years, has featured India as a full participant since 2014.

And as the U.S. continues to refine its Indo-Pacific policy, its relationship with India and the Quad will only grow.

Briefly launched in the mid-2000s before being shelved following complaints from Beijing, the Quad returned in 2017. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has evolved to address a variety of global issues, including vaccines for countries in the Global South and climate change.

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India, historically a civilizational power and today the world’s fifth-largest economy, has been crucial in assisting smaller countries in the current pandemic by providing vaccines and other medical assistance. That’s occurred in areas such as South and Southeast Asia, where it is considered a “big brother,” but also as far afield as the Pacific islands.

While often accused of being an “anti-China alliance” or falsely equated with an “Asian NATO,” the Quad has in fact emerged to address a series of nontraditional security issues: pandemic relief, climate change, supply chains and critical and emerging technologies. The sentiment revealed in the readouts from the Quad’s meetings so far is that these four countries — each of them major economies with distinct strengths — is not one of opposition to China, but of belief that they can do more to meet these challenges together than apart.

By virtue of its location, Hawaii is a natural destination for meetings between the U.S. and its Quad partners — on a quadrilateral, bilateral or other basis. As America’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific continues, Hawaii has an opportunity to be America’s foreign policy center — and its Indian community has an opportunity to step up its contributions locally.

It is no secret that Hawaii is home to many Asian communities who have played a role in the development of its economic and cultural landscape. While smaller than its East Asian communities, Hawaii’s Indian community has contributed to the islands, ever since Indian migrant laborers began stopping over in the late 1800s to make enough money to aid their settlement on the U.S. mainland. Gulab Watumull, for example, helped turn aloha wear into a profitable fashion, built his business empire from the ground up here, and gave back to the community through philanthropic efforts. Today, his family continues to serve Hawaii by supporting efforts such as the planetarium at the Bishop Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art and through local university scholarships.

As cooperation between Washington, D.C., and Delhi advances, expect officials and public figures from India to draw attention to these contributions — and other, less high-profile acts of service by Hawaii’s Indian community. If it embraces and promotes these contributions, Hawaii may attract many more South Asian visitors — and perhaps additional permanent residents who will help build its economy.

America’s growing relationship with India can benefit them bilaterally, in their multilateral engagement to meet 21st global challenges and — as local greetings of “aloha” are met with “namaste” — Hawaii may see those benefits at the local level.

Rob York is director of regional affairs at Pacific Forum; Akhil Ramesh is resident James A. Kelly fellow at Pacific Forum.