Islamabad will be sealed off completely from Tuesday with army helicopters making surveillance sorties and 4,000 policemen keeping vigil to ensure security during the three-day South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit, which will be attended, among others, by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from January 4.

"All entry points to Islamabad and the motorway will be brought under strict surveillance," Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat said in the capital on Sunday.

He said the Indian leader would bring his own security. "We will also provide special security arrangements for him."

The army has already taken position on the hills overlooking Islamabad as part of the security arrangements.

The capital has been divided into three security zones and the area hosting official delegates from Marriott Hotel to Serena Hotel has been declared a red zone.

The minister regretted the inconvenience caused to people and said: "A slight security lapse can defame the country and the government will not allow it."