Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar, PVSM, AVSM (born 30 September 1949) is a retired Indian Navy Admiral who served as the CINCAN and as the Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Armed Forces.

[1] His earlier served as the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF).

His staff appointments included those as Deputy Director of Combat Policy and Tactics, Naval Headquarters; Chief Instructor at the Navigation and Direction School, Kochi, as Director of the School of Maritime Warfare and Tactics, Kochi, as Senior Instructor at the Defence Services Staff College and Director of Staff Requirements at Naval Headquarters.

He was promoted to the Flag rank of Rear Admiral in April 1999 and appointed as the Chief of Staff, Southern Naval Command.

Next, he served as the Assistant Controller, Aircraft Carrier Projects at Naval Headquarters (NHQ).

[3] After being promoted to Vice Admiral in November 2005, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations).

He has delivered lectures and participated in discussions at academic and research institutions in the United States, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Security Studies Program, The University of Tennessee, The Howard Baker Center at Knoxville, The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore (Open Campus), The Atlantic Council and the Carnegie Endowment for Peace.