In 2017 Mountain Legacy International and the Nepal Mountaineering Association undertook the first steps to launch a Sister Cities relationship between Ithaca and Pokhara. Although the agreement nominally focuses on the two municipalities, the intent is to foster linkages between the regions for which they serve as gateways. Both play important roles in recreational zones, the Fingerlakes and the Annapurna Conservation Area; both have recently expanded their airports to handle international traffic, so that in effect both are be national gateways as well. In other words, the Sister Cities partnership is designed to foster commercial, scientic, recreational, cultural, and educational ties between Ithaca and Pokhara, the Fingerlakes and the central Himalayas, and the USA and Nepal.

In November 2018 Mayor Svante Myrick agreed to issue a Sister Cities proclamation, and Pokhara's Mayor Man Bahadur GC soon followed suit. Finally, on 11 December 2021, Mayor Myrick officially launched the program on the occasion of a Hillary Medal presentation at Southside Community Center in Ithaca. On February 2, Mayor Myrick read the proclamation for a television and zoom audience on the occasion of his last official participation as ex officio chair of Ithaca's Common Council.

There followed a hiatus official follow-up due to unexpected developments at the mayors' offices in both cities. In December 2023 the new mayor of Pokhara, Dhana Raj Acharya, met with Seth Sicroff and members of Pokhara's Sister City committee to discuss next steps. A letter from Mayor Acharya will be hand-delivered to Ithaca's Mayor Robert Cantelmo at the Feb. 7 meeting of the Common Council.

Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick's letter

Pokhara Mayor Man Bahadur GC's letter