Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa has been a career diplomat who joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1979 and served as Ambassador of India to Japan (2012-2015), Qatar (2009-2012) and Sweden (2005-2009). She was concurrently accredited as Ambassador to Latvia (from Stockholm), and Republic of the Marshall Islands (from Tokyo). During her career, she also held other significant assignments in China, Geneva, The Netherlands, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Ministry of External Affairs handling India’s relations with the UN system. 

In the course of her career spanning over 36 years, she handled a wide swathe of issues and subjects related to India’s relations with key countries such as Pakistan, China, and Japan; participated in international conferences and negotiations related to climate change, sustainable development, disarmament and human rights and was instrumental in the active promotion of India’s economic interests in areas of investments, trade, technology transfer and energy security during postings in Europe, the GCC and Japan.

Ms Wadhwa is currently Chairperson of the India- Japan Friendship Forum and Member Governing Council of the Asian Confluence, based in Shillong which promotes development and connectivity of the Indian North East with its neighbours and serves as independent Director and advisor on the Boards of a few companies.

 In recognition of her contribution to the promotion of India-Japan relations she was honoured with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government in April 2024.