Vice Admiral (retd.) Vijay Shankar PVSM, AVSM, is the former Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Forces Command of India. He is also former Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command and Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet. His command and operational experience are comprehensive and include Command of INS Viraat, the aircraft carrier, active service during the 1971 war, Operation Pawan (the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka), and Operation Vijay, to vacate the Kargil intrusion. He holds an MSc. in Defense Studies and is a graduate of the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, USA.

The Admiral retired on 30 September 2009, after nearly 45 years in uniform. Since retirement, he has lectured widely both in India–at the Staff College, Higher Command College, the United Services Institute and the National Maritime Foundation, amongst other venues–and abroad.

Internationally, his participation in the Global Zero initiative, Track II Ottawa Dialogue, the Bellagio Carnegie Endowment discussions, the Indo-Sino-Pak trilateral dialogue, Chaophraya Dialogue, and the papers he has presented there, seek to provide a new paradigm for nuclear security on the sub-continent. He has delivered lectures and participated in discussions at academic and research institutions in the US., including Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Security Studies Program, The University of Tennessee at Knoxville, The Howard Baker Center for Public Policy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore Open Campus, The Atlantic Council, Council on Foreign Relations, Pratt House New York. SIPRI projects on Nuclear non proliferation, Nuclear transparency and CBMs. And the Carnegie Endowment for Peace.

Vice Admiral (retd.) Shankar is a member of the visiting faculty at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bengaluru, India, and has tenanted the Admiral Katari Chair of Excellence at the United Services Institute.