General Sundararajan Padmanabhan PVSM, AVSM, VSM is a former General Officer of the Indian Army. He served as the 17th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. Gen. Padmanabhan succeeded General V.P. Malik on 30 September 2000. He also served as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is a statutory office held by the professional head of the Indian Army (IA), the land forces branch of the Indian Armed Forces. Customarily held by a four-star general officer, the COAS is the senior-most operational officer of the IA, tasked with the roles of overseeing the overall functioning of the force during peace and wartime, committing to the preparation-cum-maintenance of the force's operational effectiveness and defending the nation's territorial integrity-cum-sovereignty. Also a permanent member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and the National Security Council (NSC), the COAS also bears the responsibility of advising the nation's civilian leadership i.e., the Government of India on all matters privy to the IA.