Dr. Neena Malhotra joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in the year 1992
She has served as Ambassador of India to Italy and San Marino from September 2020 to April 2024. During this period, she also served as Permanent Representative of India to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Program (WFP), representing India on FAO Council, as member of Program and Finance Committees of FAO, as Chair of Evaluation Committee of IFAD and on Executive Board of WFP. She also chaired the International Steering Committee of FAO on the Year of Millets 2023.
On behalf of India, Dr. Malhotra got elected as President of the UNIDROIT General Assembly in Rome and served in that capacity for the year 2022-2023.
Her earlier foreign assignments include Permanent Delegation of India (PDI) to UNESCO in Paris; and CGI, New York. Recently, she was appointed as India’s Ambassador to Sweden but could not join due to family constraints.
At the Headquarters of the Ministry, she served as Additional Secretary (Indo-Pacific) covering Indo-Pacific, Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and Southern Divisions of MEA. She has been Head of the Divisions of Passport, Visas (PV), SAARC, E governance & Information Technology (EG&IT), and East & Southern Africa (E&SA). In her stint as Head of E&SA Division, in addition to bilateral relations with 17 countries of Eastern and Southern Africa, she was in charge of relations with African Union (AU), African RECs, India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) matters including training programs and all-Africa policy matters. Most recently, as Officer on Special Duty (Political), she was dealing with matters pertaining to many SIDS countries. She has also handled work in Americas, BSM, South East Asia & Pacific Divisions covering 26 countries and External Publicity Desks.
Academically, a Plant Physiologist, Dr. Malhotra holds M.Sc. and Ph. D degrees from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi and has published research papers in the Indian Journal of Plant Physiology. Prior to joining IFS, she was selected as Scientist S-1 based on ARS exam conducted at All India level. She has been a holder of IARI, PG Fellowship for the years 1987-89, and 1989-1992; ICAR Fellowship 1987-89 (Did not Avail); and All India Post Graduate Scholarship for the year 1986-87.
Among the in-service training programs done by her include, 27th Study Session at the International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France (July 1996); Summer Program for Foreign Policy Officials, New School, New York, June-July 1998; Workshop on Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention, 2001, The Hague, Netherlands and 5th CORE program conducted by Indian Defence Ministry 2012.
She studied French language from Institut Catholique and Sorbonne University of Paris and holds an Advanced Diploma in French language. She speaks fluent Hindi, English and Punjabi.