Mr. Ravi Shankar joined the Indian Foreign Service in September 1995. During the course of his diplomatic career, he has served at various positions in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and abroad.

He served as the Ambassador of India to Ukraine from August 2024–May 2026 and High Commissioner of India to Uganda from 2017–2020. He has also served in different capacities at Indian Missions in Paris (1997–2000), Tunis (2000–2004), Hanoi (2009–2012) and Rome (2013–2016).

At Headquarters, he headed the Multilateral Economic Relations Division (2020); was Joint Secretary in the President Secretariat (2020–2022) and then Additional Secretary in charge of South East Asian countries (2022–2024). He has also served as Chief Staff Officer to Minister of State for External Affairs (2006–2009).