Commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1975, Vice Admiral Chopra rendered forty years of distinguished service , retiring in 2015. He has the unique distinction of having been the Commander-in-Chief of both combatant commands of the Indian Navy, i.e. the Western Naval Command, and the Eastern Naval Command; as well as the Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. Admiral Chopra also commanded the Western Fleet , known as the Indian Navy’s sword – arm; the aircraft carrier, INS Viraat; the destroyer, INS Rajput; and the missile corvette, INS Kuthar. As member of the apex Defence Acquisition Council for three years, he was involved with the ongoing evolution of the Defence Procurement Procedure and India’s Defence Industrial Base After his active service, Admiral Chopra was a Member of the National Security Advisory Board, Government of India, which provides inputs on multifarious security issues to the apex National Security Council from 2017-2019. He was also a Member of the Sheketkar Expert Committee appointed by the Ministry of Defence in 2016 to examine measures to enhance the combat capability of the Indian Armed Forces, and rebalance the defence budget. Admiral Chopra has been a Distinguished Fellow with a number of think-tanks , including the Vivekananda International Foundation, Observer Research Foundation, Gateway House , and a member of the the Governing Council of the United Services Institution. He has also been active in India's track 1.5 and track 2.0 dialogues with a large number of countries, notably France, EU, Japan and Australia. He has travelled extensively, in both professional and private capacity, journeying to over sixty countries, and was posted abroad to Europe and the US for over four years on several assignments, incuding a year as a Senior Fellow at the US Atlantic Council in Washington DC, He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and his Masters and M Phil in Defence Studies from Chennai University. Admiral Chopra is a recipient of the PVSM and AVSM for distinguished service.