When Prime Minister Balendra Shah of Nepal addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, the dark sunglasses perched on his nose were already familiar to Nepalis.

Mr. Shah, 36, known across his country simply as Balen, rarely appears in public without them.

He was in New York partly to urge the international community to help fund the recovery of less-developed countries disproportionately affected by climate-linked disasters. “Climate change does not recognize borders,” he told the General Assembly on Thursday, describing the deadly glacial floods in Nepal last month as “a warning to the world.”

While speaking, Mr. Shah paired his shades with other elements of his usual uniform: a suit and a traditional Nepalese hat, both in black.

A July profile by The Kathmandu Post described a politician who meticulously manages his public profile. Mr. Shah keeps the sunglasses on for cameras and meetings with foreign ambassadors, the newspaper reported, but removes them in cabinet meetings and private talks. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

The eyewear adds to his mystique. Mr. Shah rarely gives news conferences or interviews, preferring to communicate through social media.

The look has become recognizable enough that it is a selling point: A search for “Balen Shah glasses” on Daraz, one of Nepal’s largest online marketplaces, turns up several styles modeled on his shades.

He has worn the glasses since his days as a rapper competing in head-to-head rap battles in Nepal’s underground hip-hop scene, when tracks like “Nepal Smiling” won him a devoted following among younger Nepalis.

In 2022, Mr. Shah shocked the country’s political establishment by winning the election for mayor of Kathmandu as an independent. By then, the black suit and sunglasses reinforced his image as an outsider unburdened by traditional party politics.

He carried that trademark look onto the campaign trail earlier this year, after a youth-led uprising in September 2025 toppled the government of K.P. Sharma Oli. In parliamentary elections in March, Mr. Shah’s newly adopted Rastriya Swatantra Party won a historic landslide, and he personally defeated Mr. Oli in an eastern district on his way to becoming prime minister.

Since taking office, Mr. Shah has worn the dark sunglasses in Parliament, at state ceremonies, during military parades and in his official portrait.

Mr. Shah has occasionally appeared in public without his trademark eyewear. In July, he removed them during an address urging calm after deadly Hindu-Muslim clashes in southern Nepal. The Kathmandu Post portrayed his decision to look directly into the camera without his glasses as befitting the gravity of the moment.

He also removed the sunglasses last month while touring sites where the floods had torn through the Himalayas, wiping out bridges and entire towns.

Months earlier, he had taken off his glasses before a cheering crowd and told his supporters, “I love you.”

In August, Mr. Shah appeared to run into a roadblock over his eyewear when the parliamentary speaker said dark sunglasses would no longer be permitted during proceedings in the House of Representatives. The speaker, Dol Prasad Aryal, said lawmakers wearing sunglasses had repeatedly prompted questions and criticism, according to The Kathmandu Post.

But a few weeks later, Mr. Shah’s office said a doctor had advised the prime minister to wear sunglasses to protect his eyes from bright light, the newspaper reported.

Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.

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