Games without frontiers: Indians, Pakistanis team up for eSports

Zeyan Shafiq, after playing the PUBG mobile game in Srinagar. — Tauseef Mustafa/AFP

NEW DELHI: When India banned the hit PUBG mobile game over its diplomatic row with China, Zeyan Shafiq's eSports team was suddenly left without players. So Shafiq, who is based in war-torn Kashmir, did something very unusual: he reached across the border to Pakistan.

Shafiq, 18, feared reprisals over his move, but none came. It resulted in an unheard-of alliance between Indian and Pakistani gamers, forged in one of the most dangerous regions in the world.