Nepal PM Balen Shah Wears Signature Sunglasses at UN, Urging Climate Aid After Deadly Floods
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 25
Nepal PM Balen Shah Wears Signature Sunglasses at UN, Urging Climate Aid After Deadly Floods
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 25
Summary
At the U.N. General Assembly, Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah delivered his speech in the dark sunglasses that have become his trademark public image.
Shah, 36, was in New York to press richer countries to help fund recovery in less-developed nations hit by climate-linked disasters, citing Nepal’s deadly glacial floods last month as a global warning.
The sunglasses are part of a carefully managed persona: Nepal media have reported he keeps them on for cameras and meetings with foreign ambassadors but removes them in cabinet sessions and private talks.
That image has helped make the shades a commercial marker as well, with online marketplace Daraz listing multiple styles modeled on what Nepalis know simply as Balen’s glasses.